SNU, OC, SWOSU in top five at GAC Preview
OKLAHOMA CITY – Harding showed its depth in the GAC Preview at Lake Hefner Tuesday, with its A team taking first place and its reserves finishing second. Host Southern Nazarene was just off the pace, finishing eight shots behind in third.
Although the Crimson Storm didn’t bring home the team title, head coach Derrick Taylor and company have a lot of positives to build on for the rest of the year. Two of those came from senior Zander Tway and sophomore Brodey Claborn. The duo each finished inside the top-5 of the individual leaderboard as Tway fired the low round of the day on Tuesday. His round was almost flawless as he carded five birdies and just one bogey across his final 18 holes of action to come in the house with a 4-under 68 and a T-4 finish.
Joining Tway with a T-4 finish was Claborn who posted a final round even-par 72. After double-bogeying the first hole, Claborn flipped the switch with a couple of birdies including a spectacular eagle on the 18th hole to close out the tournament. Tway and Claborn each finished with a 213 three-round total which was just two back of the winner.
SNU had one other player finish inside the top-10 in Tristan Florence, as the senior carded a 75 and tied for ninth.
Oklahoma Christian’s B team finished fourth, while Southeastern Oklahoma State took fifth. Teams from Northwestern Oklahoma State finished seventh and eighth.
OC, with a lineup that included all freshmen and sophomores and only two players who’d ever played in a collegiate tournament before this week, laid down a team score of 286 (2-under-par) in the final round to move up two spots.
At 875, OC trailed only three teams. The A team from Harding (Ark.) won the tournament with a three-round score of 858, six shots ahead of Harding’s B team. Tournament host Southern Nazarene was third at 866.
OC was led by sophomore Ransen Turner of Edmond, who tied for ninth in the 47-man field at 218 (2-over) – his first career top-10 finish.
Jordan Holifield led Southeastern Oklahoma State with a third-place finish individually, shooting rounds of 70-69-73 for a 4-under 212.
Two Harding players, Sam Tandy and Wilmer Haakansson, tied for the individual title at 211 (5-under).