Rachel Aujero (senior) and Daniel Rowe (sophomore) led the Occidental golf teams to a strong finish at the recent Cal Lutheran Invitational, with the women’s team finishing second out of seven teams and the men’s team finishing third out of nine teams. With the golf season ending in April, the Cal Lutheran showing is one of the last golf events before both teams attend the SCIAC conference finals April 23–25.
Head coach of both the men’s and women’s golf teams William Morris said Aujero and Rowe are both deserving of Athlete of the Week recognition.
“Rachel and Daniel are both excellent players and outstanding people,” Morris said via email.
Rachel Aujero
Aujero placed third overall and first on the women’s team, bolstering her record as one of the Tigers’ strongest golfers.
According to Aujero, not only was the Cal Lutheran course windy, but the event itself was long.
“We even [used] golf carts because [it was] so long,” Aujero said. “Maintaining my head for the whole six hours was the toughest battle of playing that event.”
Aujero said the mental aspect of the game is important, and that every event is different.
“A huge part of my preparation is taking care of myself and being centered when I work in practice,” Aujero said.
Aujero said the team’s encouragement has also been important to her success.
“I think the success I’ve had this season has had a lot to do with our younger players being really supportive, and taking it as seriously as I take it,” Aujero said. “They have been great cheerleaders — but they’ve also played really well.”
Aujero said she feels good about the rest of the golf season.
“I’m really proud of the girls — they’ve handled the pressure really well this year,” Aujero said. “Our schedule is not easy. So, I feel pretty good about it. I’m excited for championships at Santa Anita — I think we’ll do really well.”
Aujero has played golf for the women’s team since the 2022–2023 season, when she had the best score on the team at the SCIAC finals. Aujero said she has been playing golf since she was eight, and that choosing to play golf at Occidental has worked out well.
“I really liked [Occidental] for the academic aspect,” Aujero said. “I still wanted to be a student as much as an athlete, which is the classic DIII response.”
Morris said via email that Aujero has been a leader and one of the best players in the SCIAC conference.
“Rachel is our two-year women’s captain, a senior and a four-year veteran,” Morris said. “She has been an all-SCIAC performer for the past two years.”
Looking forward, Aujero said she will continue to play golf after her time at Occidental.
“I think playing golf for Oxy is the highlight of my Oxy career,” Aujero said. “I’ve gotten to do some really amazing things outside of golf, but I think that I wouldn’t have had as robust of an experience if I hadn’t been able to play college golf. Golf will be a lifelong thing for me. I’m not done with it yet.”
Daniel Rowe
Daniel Rowe tied for seventh overall at the Cal Lutheran Invitational. Rowe’s showing at the invitational continued a series of strong performances in his first season with the Tigers after transferring from Northwestern Nazarene University last year.
Rowe said the Cal Lutheran Invitational was a windy event, but that he has experience playing in windy conditions.
“It was blowing pretty heavy,” Rowe said. “Wind was definitely a factor […] the confidence of knowing how to play in wind helped me play past a lot of the field, which was nice.”
Rowe said he thinks the team has a good chance of winning the SCIAC conference finals this year, and that the team’s performance at the Cal Lutheran Invitational will add momentum.
“The only other team that I’d expect to do well is Claremont,” Rowe said. “I’ve seen the work that we’ve put in this season, and I think we have a really good chance [of] beating them and coming out ahead during the conference finals.”
Rowe’s first season with the Tigers began with an excellent performance at the California State Intercollegiate this past September, where he placed fourth overall and first among the Tigers.
Rowe said the Occidental team does a good job of keeping morale high and spending time together outside of golf.
“We all hang out together, whether that’s on the course, on the weekends […] we all just have a really good time together,” Rowe said. “It’s really good for the team spirit aspect of it — because we all know each other really well, it’s easy to boost any one of us up if we need it.”
Morris said Rowe has been exceptional all year.
“He is very passionate and works extremely hard on his game,” Morris said via email. “He transferred into Oxy this year from a Division II institution and we are so fortunate to have him. We expect great things from him during his Oxy career.”
Rowe said he wanted to come play golf at Occidental after deciding to transfer last year.
“I talked to the coach here, and I talked about coming here when I was in high school,” Rowe said. “When I entered the transfer portal, I knew that I wanted to come here.”
Contact Julian Levy at jlevy@oxy.edu
