With carefully manicured greens and fairways, nicely dressed players and the emphasis on proper etiquette, the golf course wouldn’t seem like the ideal place for a “dawg,” someone who’s gritty and is determined to win.
Even so, Wichita State men’s golf coach Judd Easterling used that word when describing standout senior Jose Miguel Ramirez.
“He’s ready to go at all times,” Easterling said. “I know he’s never going to give up, he’s going to fight till the end, and he’s going to give us everything he’s got every time he tees it up.”
A native Venezuelan, Ramirez made an immediate impact in his first year at WSU, finishing runner-up in the 2025 American Championship, tying the best finish ever by a Shocker since Wichita State joined the conference in 2017. Standing near the putting green at Willowbend Golf Club on Thursday afternoon, Ramirez laughed when asked about Easterling’s “dawg” comment.
“That’s actually pretty funny,” he said. “I guess it’s the way I play. Sometimes people get scared or nervous. I still get nervous, but I think I can control it really well. I enjoy those pressure moments.”
Ramirez has proved that he can come through when the pressure is on.
Playing for Iowa’s Indian Hills Community College, he won the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I men’s championship at Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton. Easterling, who is entering his seventh year as head coach, was ecstatic after Ramirez committed to the Shockers.
“He’s been a game changer for our program,” Easterling said. “He hasn’t missed an event in a year and a half, and I don’t foresee him missing an event. He’s kind of a quiet leader, leads by example, does the right thing on and off the golf course, and he’s just been a pleasure to have here at Wichita State.”
Easterling said Ramirez has a strong overall game, which helped him post a 71.7 stroke average and finish in the top five twice last season.
“He drives it very far, is great around the greens, he competes at a high level and never gives up,” Easterling said. “He’s just kind of the total package.”
Furthermore, Ramirez noted that staying upbeat throughout the round is a strength of his.
“My long irons and irons are really good overall, and my driving is really good as well,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez is off to a solid start this season through WSU’s first three tournaments. He tied for 14th with a score of 213 in Colorado State’s Ram Masters Invitational. At the Git-R-Done Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., Ramirez tied for eighth, shooting 211 to go two under par.
“The results were all right,” Ramirez said of the Git-R-Done Invitational. “I didn’t feel like I had my best game at all. I was kind of off, off the tee. I was hoping to get a little higher up on the results, but it was all right.”
Most recently, he tied for 23rd at the SIUE Dolenc Invitational, ending a five-tournament streak of top 20 finishes dating back to last season.
While Ramirez led WSU at the Ram Masters Invitational, newcomer Emilio Arellano Llamas was the highest Shocker finisher at the two most-recent events, finishing in the top 10 in both. Llamas is also a product of Indian Hills Community College.
“This is probably the deepest team we’ve ever had,” Easterling said. “From one to nine, there’s not a whole lot of gap there.”
The Shockers return to the course on Sunday when they host the fourth-annual Grier Jones Invitational at Sand Creek Station Golf Club in Newton.
“I feel we have a lot of talent,” Ramirez said. “I have really high expectations for all of us at the end of the season (to) make it to the regionals and why not the championship?”
