Savage Storm advances to Division II Nationals, UCO falls short
DURANT, Okla. – For the second time in three years Southeastern Oklahoma State golf has punched its ticket to the NCAA National Championship Tournament after finishing tied for fourth at the Central/Midwest Super Regional on Wednesday in Findley, Ohio.
The Savage Storm will now advance to the finals May 21-25 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals, Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
SE last advanced as a team to the finals in 2016 where it finished 15th.
The Storm nearly shot the best round of the day for the second day in-a-row, but finished two shots off that pace with a 290 to card a three-round score of 873, which was nine shots behind regional champion Indianapolis and two shots above the sixth-place finisher.
Zach James finished the event tied for third after firing a one-over 73 on the final day after posting four birdies and five bogeys. His 54-hole total of 213 was five shots behind individual regional champion Alex Scott who posted a 208.
Hayden Foster turned in the team’s best final round score with four birdies of his own across from just two bogeys to card a 2-under 70, climbing into a tie for 18th in the final standings with a three-day total of 218.
Jordan Holifield followed up by matching his day two round with another 1-over 73 that included four birdies and brought his tourney total to 222 to finish tied for 40th.
Ryan Woods was two shots off his pace overall with a final tally of 224 to finish tied for 51st after firing a two-over 74 on Wednesday that included a pair of back-nine birdies.
Sam Berry rounded out the team in a tie for 71st with a three-round tally of 226 after turning in a final round score of 76 on Wednesday.
Tiffin finished second in the event with an 686, followed by Missouri-St. Louis in third at 872.
Southeastern advances to the finals alongside fellow Great American conference foe Arkansas Tech who was also tied for fourth.
The two led the way among conference teams in competition, with Harding finishing seventh, Henderson State eighth, and Southwestern Oklahoma State tied for 11th.
Central Oklahoma started strong but could not advance past ninth place. The Bronchos closed with a 298 to finish three trips around the 6,722-yard, par-72 Findlay Country Club with an 885 total, good for a ninth-place tie in the 20-team event.
Nick Pierce, Alexander Hughes and Holden Crago all shot 74 for UCO, while Eli Armstrong had a 76 and Wesley Jackson a 78. The Bronchos made a charge up the leaderboard on the front nine after starting the day 11th, but wasn’t able to sustain the momentum.
Central started play on the back nine and Pierce got off a great start with birdies on the par-4 10th and par-5 18th in making the turn at one-under 35. He was still one-under after birdieing the par-5 fourth, but bogeyed the next four holes before finishing with a birdie on the par-4 ninth in coming in with a 39.
Pierce was UCO’s top finisher, tying for 28th with a 221 total.