Men's Golf 10/5/2020 9:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Know The 'Chos: Joe Lemieux

The University of Central Oklahoma athletic department is showcasing its student-athletes each Monday this fall with a quick glance at who your favorite Bronchos are on and off the field in a segment called Know The 'Chos, sponsored by McBride Orthopedic Hospital.

Up this week is an All-MIAA men's golfer who qualified for regionals in his first year at Central and was in line to lead the team there last year before the health crisis shut down sports in the spring.

This junior, for the second time around, transferred to Central Oklahoma after spending his freshman season in Arkansas at the University of Arkansas-Monticello. He's played 19 career tournaments in two seasons with the Bronchos. He's posted six rounds of 69 in those tournaments – a combined 53 rounds – and has a career low of 68, shot in the final round of the Las Vegas Desert Classic during his sophomore season.

His best finish was a second-place mark in the Southwest Baptist Invitational in 2018. He's also finished tied for ninth on three different occasions and was in the top 20 a total of eight times.

Here's the file:

Name: Joe Lemieux

Hometown: Newalla, Okla.

Sport: Men's Golf

Class: Junior

Major: Finance

Favorite memory at Central: My favorite memory would have to be when we won a tournament in Houston last spring. Coach finally let me play my speaker on the practice range before the tournament started, so our whole team was dancing and singing before the tournament started. Plus, the tournament was played at a PGA Tour tournament course, so it was super nice. A runner-up moment would have to be spending the night in the Dallas airport after missing our connecting flight back from Miami because coach read our flights wrong.

Best part of UCO: The best part of UCO in general would be the friendships I've made and the places I've been able to travel. Everyone is very friendly, and I've gotten to travel across the country representing our school, so who wouldn't like that!

More about this student-athlete: Lemieux is a left-handed junior and two-year starter capable of contending in every tournament he enters. In 2019-20, he finished with 74.06 average for 18 rounds while registering three top-20 finishes in seven tournaments.

He shot par or better nine times, topped by three-under 69 in final round of the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational. Lemieux finished a season-best ninth in that event with 36-hole total of 139. He also tied for 13th at the Houston Classic and tied for 16th at the Winona State Invitational.

As a sophomore in 2018-19, he put together solid 73.63 scoring average for 35 rounds in earning first-team All-MIAA recognition. Lemieux had seven top-30 finishes in 12 tournaments, highlighted by runner-up showing in the SBU Invitational with a 219 total after rounds of 78-72-69.

He really played well in the spring, stringing together five straight top-15 finishes – including three in the top 10 – during one stretch. He tied for ninth in the Lindenwood Invitational at 219 (71-77-71) and had a pair of two-under-par 69s in shooting 215 to also finish ninth at The Battle at the Shores.

Lemieux tied for 15th in the MIAA Championships at 220 (77-69-74) and earned an invitation to the NCAA Division II Men's Midwest/Central Super Regional, shooting 81-76-76 there. Lemieux had 13 rounds at par or better and shot in the 60s seven times that season and was also named an All-American Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

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Players Mentioned

Joe Lemieux: Senior

Players Mentioned

Joe Lemieux
: Senior