OSU Golfer Gets First College Win at Big 12 Championship

There are certainly worse places to get the first win of your college career.

Stratton Nolen had played the fewest rounds of any of the 10 golfers on OSU’s team coming into the Big 12 Championship. Alan Bratton added him as one of OSU’s five guys (the fifth, actually) for the conference crown at Whispering Pines though which turned out to be a really good move.

Nice call by @OSUBratton to add him this week so he could be crowned! #okstate proud!! https://t.co/36IdMReSir

— Larry Reece (@cowboyvoice) May 1, 2016

Nolen, who is ranked No. 1,634 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and considered going to Texas, held off Longhorn superduperstar Beau Hossler by one stroke to become OSU’s 8th Big 12 individual champion.

Nolen joined Leif Westerberg (1997), Charles Howell (2000), Anders Hultman (2002), Hunter Mahan (2003), Pablo Martin (2007), Rickie Fowler (2008) and Hoffmann (2009, 2011) on OSU’s list of Big 12 champions.

With that putt, Stratton Nolen from @OSUCowboyGolf is the Men's #Big12GOLF Individual Champion at -6!! ? pic.twitter.com/gWhGlhKt0M

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 1, 2016

As a team, OSU got beat by 26 by Texas, but at least Nolen got that Big 12 individual title! He shot a 2-under 70 on Sunday to hold off Hossler (who shot a 3-under 69). OSU will host a regional at Karsten Creek in two weeks.