Oklahoma State has taken a second transfer portal hit this week. With each one, head coach Greg Robertson looks unflinchingly down the lineup – both in terms of opportunity and the future of the program.
Junior Isabella Fierro, who recently broke a two-year college golf winless streak with her Columbia Classic title, has joined teammate Caley McGinty in the transfer portal, Robertson told Golfweek. McGinty and Fierro were the two leading scorers for an Oklahoma State team that went undefeated in the fall and was looking to build on an NCAA runner-up season a year ago.
Robertson, like many coaches grappling with a more fluid transfer landscape, is in new territory with his top two players effectively in limbo between his program and the next one, wherever that may be.
“This was obviously a unique situation, unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before, your two best players come in and they tell you that they want to get in the portal,” he said. “Our response to that, we figured we’ve got two choices: We can focus on scores and results and make that our priority or we can focus on the people that we have on the team.
“We went the route that we’re going to focus on the people and we’re going to be committed to the ones that want to be here – not just this year but are committed to be here beyond (this year).”
Robertson handled McGinty and Fierro’s decisions in the same way, creating a policy that if a player decides to enter the transfer portal, she loses access to Oklahoma State’s golf resources, which includes tournament play, course facilities and workout facilities.
“What we told both of them is we’re going to be supportive if you want to leave and you feel that’s the best thing that you need to do, at the same time as long as you’re in the portal, we’re going to have to cut ties with golf.”
By last month’s Columbia Classic, McGinty had already left campus while remaining enrolled in online courses.
Fierro let her coaches know her intentions this past weekend.
In Oklahoma State’s case, Fierro and McGinty’s decision to enter the portal reflects both an easier system for moving between programs as well as a college experience changed by COVID.
Robertson said both players communicated similar feelings of unhappiness personally and socially and a feeling of needing a change. Both were taking online classes exclusively for both the fall and spring semesters at Oklahoma State. Robertson said he’s learned from that how important the college experience can be.
“(Assistant coach) Maddi (Swaney) and I moving forward, we’ve decided that learning from this, it’s going to be mandatory that hopefully we get past this COVID era and things start to get a little bit more normal but we’re going to make it mandatory that everybody has to take a minimum of at least two classes in person because we think it’s important, especially after what’s happened to get the players on campus, to get them to experience college life, get them meeting people,” he said.
Oklahoma State was No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings after the fall. The Cowgirls finished third at the Columbia Classic on Feb. 14 without McGinty and third at the ICON Invitational on Feb. 22 before Fierro communicated her intention to enter the portal.
McGinty carried a scoring average of 68.5 while Fierro played to a 70.5 average. Both players are in the field for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur later this month.
Among Oklahoma State’s remaining 10-woman roster are four players who have won individual titles in college golf, a stat Robertson keeps revisiting.
“I’m comfortable and I’m confident with the players that we have and who we have moving forward,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do the rest of this year.”
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