Oklahoma Christian, SEOSU finish 2-3 in St. Mary’s Invitational
SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 26, 2019) – Thanks to strong rounds from Trevor Norby and Andres Brictson, No. 9-ranked Oklahoma Christian moved up a spot to second on the final day of the St. Mary’s Invitational men’s golf tournament, which ended Tuesday at The Dominion Country Club.
Norby, a junior from Carlsbad, Calif., posted a career-best second-place individual finish in the 88-man event, closing with a 1-under-par 71 on the 6,906-yard course. He finished at 3-under 213 for the tournament and was the only player to shoot even par or better for all three rounds.
Brictson, a sophomore from Merida, Mexico, rebounded after a tough first day and posted an even-par 72, finishing in a tie for 36th at 227.
As a team, the Eagles posted a final-round score of 293, giving them an overall score of 884. That was good enough to hold off Southeastern Oklahoma State (887) for second place in the 18-team field, but the Eagles – and everyone else – weren’t a match Tuesday for No. 10-ranked St. Mary’s (Texas).
Playing on their home course, the Rattlers had three players shoot 68 and another fire a 71 for a team score of 275 and they won going away with an overall score of 856. Emilio Gonzales of St. Mary’s provided one of those 68s and took the individual title at 6-under 210.
After Norby, OC’s top individual finisher was senior Juan Pallach, who closed with an 81 to place 35th at 226. Senior Cameron Brown (75) tied for 44th at 228 and senior Garrett White (75) tied for 50th at 230.
OC will return to action March 3-5 in the Las Vegas Desert Classic, to be hosted by Missouri-St. Louis at Royal Links Golf Club’s Links Replica Course in Las Vegas.
Southeastern Oklahoma State carded team rounds of 296, 294, and 293 to finish with an 887. Southeastern finished three shots ahead of fourth-place and 25th-ranked Western New Mexico, with No. 15 Midwestern State and No. 46 Southwestern Oklahoma State tying for the fifth position with scores of 892. The Bulldogs were the only other Great American Conference program in the event.
Zach James posted his lowest finish of the season in 11th, marking the first time he has finished outside the top-10 since finishing 26th at the NCAA DII National Championship to close the 2018 season.
He opened play with a 73 and carded a 70 in the second round before posting a 75 on Tuesday to finish with a 218 in 11th place.
Hayden Foster was right on his heels after turning in matching par rounds of 72 on Monday he turned in a 75 as well on Tuesday and posted a 219 and finished tied for 12th. Jordan Holifield opened solid with a 73, but slipped a bit in the second round with a 78. He responded with a team-best 70 in the final round to turn in a 221 and finish tied for 19th. Ruben Figueiredo bookended his event with 78’s in the first and third round and posted a 74 in the middle to finish with a 230 for the event in a tie for 50th.
Southwestern took fifth, its third consecutive top-five team finish dating back to the fall season. Gregor Weck led the way for SWOSU with a top-five individual finish as he tied for fourth place at 1-under par. Weck shot an opening-round 74 before going under par in each of his final two rounds to finish the three-round tournament with 215 strokes. Heston Brown was four shots back of Weck and tied for 12th and he had the distinction of shooting SWOSU’s low round of the tournament with a 68 in the second round, which helped offset an opening-round 77.
Kason Cook tied for 30th place while Conner DeWitt was the final scoring golfer in each round on his way to claiming a share of 61st place. Ole Hatlelid was the fifth score in each round, improving by seven shots between the second and third round, firing a 77 in the final round of the event.
SWOSU has a chance to regroup for a few weeks before returning to competition at the UCO Classic, which will be held on March 18-19 at Oak Tree Country Club in Edmond.
Northeastern State University finished in 10th place after a round of 300 Tuesday. The Riverhawks were led by Carolos Gomez and Jax Johnson, who both finished in a tie for 23rd at 222. Johnson closed with a 72 and Gomez a 74. Grant Hynes tied for 50th at 230, Ty Shelnut took 70th at 236 and Tyler Ashman tied for 80th at 244.