The RoundHouse | 10/11/2022 4:55:00 PM

 
 
While Aston Castillo possessed every reason to be confident in his golf game moving up to NCAA Division I from junior college, he is happy to see proof on the course.
 
"Coming from juco, you kind of wonder," he said. "I've played really good these last two events and you believe in yourself and know that you're good."
 
Tuesday reinforced Castillo's confidence, as the 18 holes did for a lot of Shockers at the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational at Crestview Country Club. Wichita State won the team title with a 1-over-par 853. Castillo, a transfer from Midland (Texas) College, finished fourth with a 212 to lead five Shockers with top-20 finishes.
 
Castillo shot 71-70-71 to play the consistent front-runner.
 
"I was hitting the ball great, and putts weren't really dropping all tournament for me, it felt like," he said. "I just tried to stay patient and give myself birdie looks on every hole."
 
Dawson Lewis, who finished fifth with a 214, recorded a second-round 67. Michael Winslow carded a final-round 69 to help the Shockers finish strong. Winslow's 217 put him in a tie for 10^th.
 
Winslow shot a 77 in Monday's second round, including a stretch of three bogeys and a double bogey. Tuesday, he birdied five holes.
 
"I had a moment to take a step back and think about what happened (Monday)," he said. "I was dialed in on each shot instead of thinking about birdies or whatever. I just let it happen. That was a big difference."
 
Freshman Matthew Sandoz rebounded from a first-round 76 to shoot 70 on the final round. Sandoz, playing in his first college tournament, birdied five holes on Tuesday. He birdied four in his first two rounds.
 
"(Sandoz) stepped up today and played a great round," Wichita State coach Judd Easterling said. "He played some of the hard holes really well. I don't know if he won the golf tournament for us today, but he was the biggest factor in today's round."
 
Utah Valley's Brady McKinlay's 202 won individual honors and the Wolverines finished second, four shots behind the Shockers.
 
The Shockers finished 17^th at SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational a week ago. Returning home to a familiar course helped them rebound and set the stage for the fall's final tournament next week in Denver.
 
"After last week and having some troubles, to see a smile on their faces and giving everybody hugs and high fives, it's a good sight to see," Easterling said.
 
Wichita State played host to a tournament for the first time since 2012. Easterling, who played for Jones and replaced him as coach in 2019, long wanted to hold a tournament. Naming it for Jones, who coached the Shockers for 24 years and led them to 15 NCAA regionals and 15 Missouri Valley Conference titles, seemed the inevitable tribute.
 
"No-brainer," Easterling said. "He's done so much for college golf and the city of Wichita."
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.