It’s the rare quiet season for college football coaches, a brief window between official visits and fall camp when the grind briefly hits pause. With recruiting in a dead period and August practices still weeks away, some coaches are sneaking in a few rounds — though likely not as many as Auburn’s Hugh Freeze — to chip away at their handicap. Or in the case of Tulsa first-year coach Tre Lamb, qualifying for the Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship.
The 35-year-old carded a 3-over 75 in Thursday’s qualifier at The Club at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, finishing right on the cut line to claim one of the final spots. The top 33 players and ties advanced to the main draw of the Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur, which is scheduled for July 21-24 at Cedar Ridge Country Club, also in Broken Arrow.
Lamb had two birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey in the round.
“First time I played it,” Lamb told KOTV’s Jeremie Poplin. “It’s a little quirky. There’s three or four holes that sneak up on you in a hurry. No. 1’s really hard, (Nos.) 13 and 14 are really hard. I made a double on 14, bogey on 13. I had it rolling pretty good there for a little bit then kind of finished strong there coming in with some pars and birdies.
“It’s a fun course. It’s hot out here today. It’s 96 degrees. I went to workouts this morning at 6:30 and those guys were sweating pretty good, but it’s fun. I love golf. I love competing. I don’t know how many more of these I got left in me.”
Lamb was named Tulsa’s coach in December 2024 after one season at East Tennessee State and four years at Gardner-Webb. He owns a 27-25 record as an FCS head coach. He also spent seven seasons as an offensive assistant — four at Mercer, three at Tennessee Tech, his alma mater — following his playing career.
Lamb engineered a rapid turnaround at Gardner-Webb, leading the program to its first Big South title since 2003 and its first FCS playoff win in 2022. He followed it up with another conference title in 2023 and back-to-back postseason appearances — both program firsts.
In his lone season at East Tennessee State, Lamb took a team coming off consecutive 3–8 campaigns and led it to a 7–5 finish, with four of the five losses decided by single digits.
He inherits a Tulsa program coming off three straight losing seasons with just two bowl appearances over the last eight years.