KWU Golfers Reflect on Senior Season

When asked about his fondest memories of playing college golf at Kansas Wesleyan U, 5th year senior Cameron Becker (5thYRSR/Accounting) pauses briefly, 4 ½ years’ worth of team memories (both on and off the golf course) racing back to his mind. After thinking about the question for a little bit, Becker delivers his response. “My favorite times were all of the trips we took as a team. The golf is good but getting that experience where you’re traveling with your
friends and getting to see different places together, going out to eat together and hanging out at the hotel, those will be the moments that will be the most difficult to say goodbye to.”

For Becker, the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester signifies what will ultimately be the final season for which he suits up for KWU’s golf program after playing for 4 years and even being named the captain for this season. It is without a doubt one of the most bittersweet feelings athletes like Becker will ever experience, but the harsh truth behind every player’s competitive career, whether it be high school, college, or a long and storied professional career, is that it must end at one point.

The same holds true for fellow KWU senior golfer Trevor Oberg. Oberg’s journey ends after spending the last several years putting in work and paving his own way to KWU; he picked up a golf club for the first time at 14 years old before signing on with McCook Community College after high school. Following his two years at McCook, Oberg spent his junior and senior years at Kansas Wesleyan, making contributions to a team that finished 13th at the NAIA national
championship in the Spring of 2021. For “TO” as his teammates like to call him, this Spring represents his final chance to add accolades to a career that was non-existent only 8 years ago.

As such, there is an intricate balance for senior athletes to strike entering their final seasons between cherishing the moment and the memories that come with a final season, while also channeling an appropriate amount of energy to attaining peak performance. This can be easier said than done at times, but Becker and Oberg have their own ways of making both of those perspectives part of their athletics farewell tours. Oberg is fully aware of the fact that once this season is over, all he has left of the experience are the memories. However, he still expresses a burning desire to work as hard as he has up to this point to meet the lofty expectations that he has set for himself. “Guys will go do things like hang out and play basketball or go out to eat together when that time can be dedicated to more practice, but you’re not going to get these moments back, so you want to strike a good balance between having fun and practicing,” says Oberg.

Becker, however, will attempt to focus on simply enjoying the experience, saying that’s what helps him to play his best golf. Thus, by enjoying moments around teammates and truly taking in the competitive climate of college golf one last time, Becker will have made the most of his final months as a college student-athlete. Becker does have some concrete goals as they pertain to the competitive side of things, but his hopes for this season go beyond just writing a low number on the scorecard. “My main goal is really just to enjoy the time with my team asmuch as possible, and to be present. That’s an abstract goat, but it’s also the main goal. From a more concrete standpoint, my goal is to be a part of the ‘A’ team as much as possible, but my
main goal is just to enjoy it as much as I can.

Another aspect of the senior season is the looming thought of life after golf and college. The thought can seem intimidating, but both seniors appear to have given this part of life a large amount of thought, and both have a pretty good idea of what life has in store for them once they don their caps and gowns in May. Oberg plans to find work as a financial advisor while still maintaining a steady playing schedule on the weekends and perhaps a weeknight league. Becker, who became engaged in August and is looking forward to his wedding in a few months, plans to stay in the Salina area where his fiancé has found a teaching job. He is currently being considered for the vacant Assistant Club Pro position at Salina Country Club.

In the end, for these two seniors, college golf represented a chance to compete and improve in a game that they are enamored with. Although their outlooks are different, their experiences with college golf will supply them with memories and life lessons that never expire. Their love for the game provided them with a path to KWU, and both were able to make the most of it.

“I’ve enjoyed playing competitively and playing on the team, but I really just love the game,” says Becker. Although life in college golf may be coming to an end in the next few months, the experience for seniors who have devoted almost their whole lives to athletics will forever remain invaluable and allow them to reflect fondly upon the memories, the wins, the losses, and relationships that the sport brought into their lives.