The 7,975-square-foot Billy W. Williams practice facility has long featured cutting-edge swing analyzers, recording equipment, and pristine indoor hitting bays to keep the Baylor men’s golf team primed for each competition. And then there’s the 16.5-acre outdoor training space boasting multiple driving ranges, putting greens, simulated holes, and a chipping area. Add to all that relaxing lounge areas, outdoor patios, and a second-story multifunctional patio space and the Williams facility is, arguably, second to none. But as Head Coach Mike McGraw prepares for 2025 spring slate, he knows that high-tech tools, pristine driving ranges, and other amenities are only part of the overall equation that makes the Baylor golfers the best they can be.
“I think modern-day technology is good and has its purpose, but ultimately players need to be self-reliant and believe in their ability to compete,” he said. “Technology is fine, but the best tool a player has is self-belief.”
It’s this dedication to encouraging student-athletes’ confidence alongside their technique that has helped solidify McGraw as one of Baylor’s all-time greatest coaches. Not only does the 2024-2025 season mark McGraw’s 11th at the University, but this year also welcomes the return of assistant coaches Cory Donnell (ACU, 2019) and Baylor’s own 2008 alumni, Jeremy Alcorn. Last season saw Baylor men’s golf finish No. 14 at the NCAA championship — the third-best showing in the team’s history. And while falling short of its overall goal, McGraw explained at the time that accomplishing as much as the team did last year flew in the face of many critics’ assumptions.
“Two months ago, nobody would’ve given us a chance to be playing on the last day of the national championship. Nobody would have,” he said at the time. “I still believed that we had a team that could do it — I couldn’t be more proud.”
But as exciting as it is to gear up for a return to the competition, it’s also a poignant moment in time for the team. After a stellar 2023-2024 season as Baylor’s mainstay golfer, fifth-year senior Johnny Keefer graduated with a 3.8 GPA in accounting and is now pursuing a career in the PGA. By the time of his departure, Keefer led the roster in below-par percentage, par-or-better percentage, total birdies, par-4 scoring average, and par-5 scoring average. The year also saw Keefer manage to secure the program’s best-ever stroke average mark at 71.45 — eventually placing 25th in the PGA Tour University Ranking and automatically earning him a status on the following season’s PGA Tour. In June, Keefer was named to the PING All-American Second Team for a third time, a first in the Baylor program’s entire history.
“To be as good a golfer as he is, and to also be the student that he is, that’s the definition of a student-athlete. It’s really, really difficult to be one of the best players in the country but also the best student in the conference. It’s thrilling to me,” McGraw told The Lariat.
And while he’s all but certain to join the ranks of former Bears such as Ben Crane, Jason Hill, Jerry Smith, and Jimmy Walker, Keefer’s departure may have some fans wondering what the future holds for men’s golf at Baylor. McGraw, however, is more confident than ever about the team, which includes the likes of junior Jonas Appel and sophomore Patricio Gonzalez — McGraw’s first international recruit and one of the four men’s golf team members to qualify for the 2023 US Amateur.
McGraw also says he is extremely excited to see the return of Drew Wrightson, who although redshirted last season, remained a 2023 All-Conference selection and was also previously ranked 2021’s No. 1 junior player in the state of Indiana. Combined with athletes like senior Zach Heffernan, junior Sam Dossey, and sophomore Davis Ovard, the team is now in a promising position to take Baylor golf into its next era.
When asked about the challenges the team may face across the national course circuit, McGraw is confident but stresses a “wait and see” approach. Until then, he remains focused on fostering the best in each team member ahead of their season. McGraw also stressed just how impressed he remains with each athlete’s commitment to excellence, not only on the golf course but also in the classroom.
The Bears have long excelled in academics — in the 2022-2023 academic year, for example, student athletes earned a 3.28 departmental GPA, with 11 teams touting a combined GPA over 3.2. But under McGraw’s oversight, men’s golf athletes take excellence to an entirely new level.
“We have graduated 100 percent of our players during my 10 years at Baylor. That is important to me,” he said, noting that six of those players also completed master’s degrees while playing on the team.
Knowing this, McGraw believes investing in the team isn’t just showing support for a consistently impressive, always improving men’s golf team — it’s helping dedicated young students pursue careers and lives that extend far beyond the countless hours of training, competition, and camaraderie.
“[McGraw] really places an emphasis on us being prepared for the next stage,” Keefer told The Lariat before his departure. “What he’s really trying to do is prepare me for professional golf, which obviously doesn’t have academics. But having discipline and time-management skills is still very important when you’re a professional golfer, and that comes with academics.”
“They are, after all, ‘student’ athletes,” McGraw emphasizes. “They should have something to show for their time at Baylor, something more than a career average score in tournaments.”
