North Texas Daily

Men’s golf is in full swing as it begins its fall slate of tournaments.

The tournament marks the first action of the year for most of the team outside of juniors Vicente Marzilio and Diego Prone, who competed in the United States Amateur Golf Championship in August.

In 2021, Marzilio was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year, was a first-team All Conference C-USA Team selection, won the C-USA individual championship and was the first North Texas conference champion since Juan Sebastian Munoz in 2015.

“[Prone and I are] really close, and he’s playing really well too,” Marzilio said. “I’ve played a lot with him, and I want to go to a tournament with him and see both of us play well. That will be really exciting and will hopefully bring some wins to the program.”

Head coach Brad Stracke said he expects all of the older guys on the team to step up and take some sort of a leadership role but expects Marzilio to take on the majority of that responsibility.

“With the summer he’s had and how he’s progressing with his game, only time will tell — but I really feel like Vicente’s going to have a great year again,” Stracke said.

The roster consists of players with varying levels of experience. This year’s squad is composed of four freshmen, one sophomore, five juniors, one senior and one graduate student.

One of those juniors, Cody Winkler, is a transfer from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Winkler led the Warhawks in last round average, par-four scoring, par-five scoring, subpar strokes per round, birdie conversion and total birdies with 84 on the year.

While the move to North Texas moved him closer to his hometown of McKinney, Texas, Winkler said the decision was about his playing career than anything else.

“I wanted a better opportunity at a bigger, more competitive university to get exposure and to give myself the best opportunity to take my game to the next level,” Winkler said. “North Texas had all the facilities, coaching and amenities that I needed to do that, so it was pretty much a no-brainer.”

For veterans like Marzilio and Winkler, self-improvement and solid play that contributes to the success of the team is the name of the game. 

“I just want to have some really good finishes, have a good scoring average, and help contribute to my team,” Winkler said.

Marzilio said he wants to build upon his past success and his personal achievements can help the team overall. 

“One goal I have individually is to win a college tournament again like I did in my freshman year,” Marzilio said. “I’m just trying to be the best I can, and if I can do that individually that’s going to help the team a lot.”

Stracke said that he expects the team to rise in the rankings this season.

“Being a top 40, top 50 team at the end of the year ­­­— I think that would be successful,” Stracke said. “I want to go to the finals of the NCAA. That’s where I think that we would meet all of our goals and I’d feel good about the season.”

Image Credit Rick Yeatts Photography