Washburn Golf 2022-23 Outlook

After two shortened seasons, Washburn golf was able to complete a full fall and spring season in 2021-22 and were able to continue some of its previous success. The Ichabods return nine players and add four to the 2022-23 squad in the form of two transfers and two freshmen under second year head coach Ronnie McHenry.

In the 21-22 season Washburn finished in the top-three of four tournaments, with one win at the Warrior Invitational. At the MIAA Championships the Ichabods finished seventh with two individuals Cade Uhlenhake and Dawson Wills, qualifying for the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional.

The pair were also named All-MIAA first team selections and Wills was named to the 2022 NCAA Division II PING All-Central Region team while Uhlenhake earned MIAA Scholar Athlete honors.

Wills and Uhlenhake highlight the group of nine returners and are joined by Jackson Wexler, Daniel Duffin, Kade Prentice and Caden Vanlandingham who each have more than 30 rounds of experience at Washburn. Cooper Ward, Michael Bessenbacher and Grant Brenneman round out the returning group for Washburn.

Jack Baker and Max Ullan each join the team as transfers in 2022-23, with Baker as a junior from Kansas State and Ullan as a graduate student from Gustavus Adolphus College. The pair played 31 combined rounds in the fall for the Ichabods and each hold average round finishes of under 76. James Hill and Zach Vandervoort join Washburn from the prep ranks and have played eight combined rounds in their Washburn careers so far.

In the fall of 2022, the Ichabods competed in six tournaments, finishing in the top-three of four of them, including winning the Ichabod Invitational in the team’s only home tournament of the season. Wills is off to a strong start, averaging a career-best 72.29 strokes per round, and has finished in the top-five of two events. Uhlenhake is just behind, with a 72.35 average and has placed top-10 in four of the six events.

Prentice and Duffin are also both off to strong starts to their junior seasons, with averages of 74.06 and 74.44 respectively. Prentice has finished in the top-10 twice and once in the top-five.

The spring season will consist of four more tournaments, beginning with the Houston Classic in Humble, Tex., starting on Feb. 13. After four regular season tournaments the MIAA Men’s Golf Championship will be hosted in Bolivar, Mo., from April 17-19, with the NCAA Midwest/Central Super Regional Championship taking place beginning May 11 in Winona, Minn.

Background: A transfer from Kansas State where he played in one event in 2021 … a four-time all-city and all-state selection in high school winning the individual league tourney as a senior and won city, league and regionals as a junior.

Personal: Son of John and Martha Baker … three sisters, Maureen, Mia and Megan … majoring in business marketing.

Career Stats