The University of Oklahoma men’s golf team is two years removed from winning an NCAA title and currently ranked No. 2 in the latest Golfweek Bushnell Coaches’ poll. But coach Ryan Hybl’s bunch isn’t all business, all the time. They can enjoy a good golf prank, too.
Case in point: the Sooners were playing earlier this week at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson. During a practice round at Omni Tucson National, Hybl’s squad decided to have a little fun with freshman Patrick Welch. As the team was playing one of the Catalina Course’s par 3s, Welch took his turn on the tee and had the moment every college golfer longs for—a hole in one.
Or so he thought.
What makes this such a dagger so good is how his teammates celebrate with Welch, jumping up and down, dog-piling the naïve young man who is about to learn he is the punchline of one of the great pranks in recent college golf history.
The crazy part about the video? Welch's shot actually really did almost go in, as Hybl himself notes in the description accompany the tweet.
FacebookPinterestOh yeah, no mistake about it. He really believed he made an ace. Poor, poor kid.
The Sooners went on to finish third in the 16-school tournament, 22 strokes behind eventual winner Arizona State. It was Oklahoma's sixth top-three finish so far in the 2018-'19 season as the squad prepares for next month's conference championship and the NCAA postseason. As for Welch, who was playing in his fourth tournament of the season? The native of Providence, R.I., finished third on the team with a three-under 213 score, leaving him in a tie for 26th individually.
Explore Golf Digest All Access, with more than 30 video series to improve your game