Men's Golf Senior: Ben Kretz

Ben Kretz

By Tegan Ellis

What is your major, and how did you end up at ONU?
I am a social studies education major. I ended up here, well it’s a long story, but my grandpa was a janitor here, my dad played ball here, my family is from around here. We moved around a lot because my dad was in the Air Force.  I decided to come back to the area where I grew up to go to school.

What are your plans after graduation?
Hopefully I will get a job. Times are tough right now with the economy, but I would love to teach. I really want to stay around this area and coach golf eventually.

Do you plan on continuing your golf game after graduation?
Yes, pretty much just by being a coach. I’m not good enough to go pro, so I will be humble with coaching a team.

What motivates you on the golf course?
I kind of have this picture in my head. If I, or my team, could win conference I can imagine calling my dad and letting him know. Just something I have always thought about.

How have you seen yourself improve over the last four years?
I think I got a lot smarter about the overall game of golf. Your mind is important in this game and you have to be calm. I stopped playing videos games and that helped, guess it just made me a lot smarter all around.

As a senior, what responsibilities do you feel you hold?
I am kind of that role model for the team, especially the younger guys. Hopefully I can stet a good example and let them follow. I’m not the kind of guy that yells but ill get them together and say, hey guys lets focus and get this done. When my coach isn’t around I’m kind of the go to guy that gets things together and set up.

What is your goal for this season?
I’d like to make the conference team again. I think that would make me the first person in ONU history to do it twice. Basically, my goal is to just lead my team to win.

What are your team goals?
Go to nationals. We have a long way to go, but we definitely have the talent.

How do you balance both golf and classes with such an intense schedule?
I just try to stay very planned, setting out the tasks I need to do. Good time management makes things very easy.

As a junior, you were recognized as All Ohio Athletic Conference, how did that accomplishment feel?
It was great, but it wasn’t just that I made it. My teammate did as well and we were the first ones to make it at the same time. Two of us making the conference at the same time was so neat. I missed out on it the year before and it was something I worked for, so to finally accomplish that was a dream come true.

What tournament or match do you look forward to the most?
Tomorrow’s Muskingum Invitational. It is where all our hard work pays off from the winter. You can tell we have an edge when we start. Sets us apart from of the other teams.