Blaine Onick came to Howard Payne University to play golf, but what he found at HPU was much greater than any sport could give him: Jesus.

Onick is a junior accounting major with a minor in Bible from Midland. He first visited HPU in August 2021, and visited a second time in March 2022, when he was surprised to find out that someone remembered him.

“When I came for a tour, I met Zac Sterling, who was the resident director of Thomas Taylor Hall at the time,” Onick said. “We met for like 10 seconds, and then I left. Then, I came back for another tour, and this is not my name at all, but he said, ‘Hey Blaze.’ The fact that he was remotely close to my name was super cool. So, I loved the family aspect of HPU, the community.”

Onick’s introduction to golf began when he was working at a golf course during his senior year of high school. He came to HPU to join the team in the fall of 2022.

“I was okay, but not very good,” he said. “I begged Coach Drummond to let me come here, and he said yes.”

Now, Onick has had two great seasons, and was named one of the 2025 American Southwest Conference (ASC) Players to Watch.

Onick was not a Christian when he came to HPU. He had always believed in God, and he had told himself that when he turned 18, he would get his life together. So, when he came to a Christian college, he decided he would commit to that plan.

“One time in chapel they were playing ‘Goodness of God,’ and when it says ‘Your goodness is running after me,’ it was resonating with me,” Onick said. “The Holy Spirit was pulling on my heart, and I was like ‘okay I hear you Lord.'”

Onick went to Fambrough’s on campus, opened his Bible to a random page and decided he was going to start reading it. He also prayed that he would find a church to start going to. Five minutes later, Caleb Callaway, resident director of Jennings Hall, came up to him and invited him to come to church with him at Heartland Church.

“So, I started off at Heartland. Then, in December, I decided I needed more Christian community,” Onick said. “So, I applied to be a resident assistant (RA) for Jennings Hall, and I got the job.”

Around the time he got the RA job, the pastor at Heartland Church encouraged anyone who had never given their lives to Christ, to do so in their private time, and that is what Onick decided to do.

“On December 2, 2022, on the third floor of Jennings Hall, and I said ‘Lord, I’m ready to give my life to you,'” he added.

Onick added that the biggest change in his life, after turning to Christ, was his outlook.

“When I came to HPU, I was identified by golf,” said Onick. “I thought golf was who I was. I was identified by a golf score. Then when I came to faith, I realized there was so much more to life than golf. I wanted everyone to know Jesus. So, I started meeting more people and I wanted to build relationships to share the Gospel with everybody.”

As well as being on the HPU men’s golf team, Onick is a member of Delta Epsilon Omega and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. He works for the admissions office, serves on the college ministry team at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church and works for See Thru Window Cleaning.

Onick’s favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” which he uses as a reminder that no matter what happens with his golf score or anything else, God has a good plan for him.