WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Prior to the calendar flipping, Kenyon College sophomore Armand Ouellette was issued an invitation from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) to participate in the inaugural Thunderbolt Invitational, an exclusive three-round tournament at the Sterling Grove Golf and Country Club.
Throughout the tournament, which concluded on December 31, Ouellette was a model of consistency, posting three straight rounds of 76 on the par-72, Nicklaus Design course. His final total of 228 put him in a tie for 59th place on the final leaderboard.
Due to the success of the annual GCAA’s The Patriot All-America Invitational, organizers put together a second tournament, The Thunderbolt, to complement The Patriot, which featured PING All-Americans from the previous season in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA, as well as 2021 First Team All-America Seniors from the AJGA. The Thunderbolt consisted of players who are ranked in the top 1,000 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), are PING Second, Third and Honorable Mention All-Americans from Divisions II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA, or are AJGA Second Team and Honorable Mention All-Americans.
Ouellette earned his invite based on his impressive 2021-22 freshman campaign in which he led all Kenyon players with a season scoring average of 73.29. He was named the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, he was named a GCAA PING All-Great Lakes Region honoree, as well as a GCAA/PING All-America Honorable Mention.
