It was a memory that haunted CU golf coach Jerry Hrnciar and returning starters Mark Crabtree, Trey Hansen and Richard Ryden. It hung in their minds like woodsmoke on a winter's day, a constant reminder of bitter disappointment.
In the spring of 1982, the Cameron University Aggies golf team led the NAIA national Championship tournament for two rounds before
faltering over the final 36 holes and finishing third. Despite registering the highest finish in the NAIA event by a District lX team in history, the Aggies felt as though they had failed. The disappointment served as a catalyst for CU's title bid in 1983.
Things started out poorly when two-time All-American Cliff Pierce transferred and starter Mike Stewart left school before the season began. Hrnciar had to fill a very big void in a hurry...and fill it he did. He brought in junior college All-Americans Freddy Wisdom and Jesse Trevino to join regulars Crabtree, Hansen and Ryden. That fivesome worked hard to overcome the adversity.
The Aggies began the season with a third-place finish in the Waterwood-Pizza Hut Classic in Texas, then placed second in the rain-shortened Southwestern Invitational and their own Oklahoma Intercollegiate event. CU then ran off a string of three consecutive tourney titles in the Shocker Classic at Wichita, Kansas, the Central State Invitational and the District lX event. They were as ready as they could for all the all-important NAIA Tournament at the Woodhaven Country Club in Ft. Worth.
"After winning three tournaments in a row, I had a great feeling about the national tournament," Hrnciar said. I knew if we played to 90 percent of our potential, we could win it." He was right. he was also correct in his pre tourney predictionÂ
 of a two-team fight between Cameron and Texas Weslyan, the tourney's perennial bridesmaid with four second-place finishes in a row. When the final round ended, TWC had its fifth second-place finish and CU held the coveted title, but it wasn't easy.
The Texas squad held a six-shot lead after 28 holes, but the Aggies whittled it back to two shots after two rounds. At the end of the third day, CU had made up those two strokes and found itself in a tie with TWC. That set up the final-round showdown between the NAIA's best.
The Aggies started strongly on the final day, touring the front nine in a collective two-over-par and had but one double-bogey on the back side to pull away from the faltering Rams by seven shots at the end. Despite a two-stroke penalty assessed Freddy Wisdom for an improper drop on the eighth hole and an inadvertent one-stroke penalty incurred by Trey Hansen on the 72nd hole of play, the Aggies still had run away from TWC to claim their first-ever NAIA golf title.
In the process, CU crowned three All-Americas in Wisdom, Ryden and Hansen, bringing to five the number of players who have earned All-America honors under Hrnciar. Wisdom and Ryden finished in a tie for fifth with 285 totals (one over par), while Hansen tied for ninth at 287.
"Texas Weslyan had two medalists, but our depth was the key to our victory," Hrnciar said. "Our fourth and fifth men played exceptionally well and all our players had rounds counted in the total. Our depth really goes beyond fourth and fifth men, though. We had two players, David Maddox and Mike Ditka, who really pushed the top five players to the heights of their respective games. Those two guys just made us a better team because they kept the pressure on the other players. They are as much a part of the championship as any of the five who played."
1983 Golf Results
Waterwood Pizza Hut Classic -Third
Southwestern Invitational - Second
Oklahoma Intercollegiate - Second
Shocker Classic - First
Central State Invitational - First
District lX Tournament - First
NAIA National Championship - First
