HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Henderson State’s Brice Howard set the Great American Conference’s Men’s Golf Championship tournament scoring record to lead the Reddies to their third GAC Championship, on Tuesday from Hot Springs Country Club.
One day after shooting a 5-under 67, he stayed hot with the putter as he opened his final round with a front-nine 31. His opening nine culminated with an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. He made six birdies and the aforementioned eagle to card a 66, one shot off the tournament’s 18-hole scoring record, and earn the Citizens Bank medalist trophy. His three-day total beat the record established by Southern Nazarene All-American Michael Hearne, an 11-under 205, in 2014.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS || PHOTO GALLERY
The Reddies continued to rewrite the GAC record books as for the second-straight day they shot the lowest team score in Championship history. Henderson State shot a 10-under 278 to finish at 15-under par. The three-day total beat the previous GAC Championship record by 17 strokes and the Reddies’ 25-shot victory broke the record they set last year of 18 shots. All four scoring golfers for Henderson State shot par or better. Mauricio Lira shot a 2-under 70 to tie for fifth and Price Murphree’s round of 70 moved him up to 13th. Wess Webb added an even-par round of 72. Drew Greenwood gave the Reddies three top-10 golfers as he tied for ninth.
Arkansas Tech shot a 3-over 291 to finish in second place for the third time in five years. Austin Smith shot his lowest round of the week, a 3-under 69, to finish in a tie for fifth place. Dylan Lovell also finished inside the top 10 as his even-par 216 resulted in an eighth-place finish.
Southeastern Oklahoma State posted the second-lowest score of the day to move up two spots and into third place. Zach James led the way for the Savage Storm with a 5-under 67 to tie for fifth place. Hayden Foster’s 69 included a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole.
Southwestern Oklahoma State also recorded an under-par round as the Bulldogs’ 3-under 285 allowed them to take home fourth place. All four scoring Bulldogs shot par or better, led by a 2-under 70 round from Nicolas Cornu. Jake Duvall added a 71 while Stefan Idstam and Marques Gomez carded even-par 72s. Idstam earned All-Tournament honors with a fourth-place finish.
Southern Arkansas’ George Adams and Oklahoma Baptist’s Drew Posada shared runner-up honors. Adams closed with a 72 while Posada registered his second 3-under 69 round of the tournament. Adams led the Muleriders to a fifth-place finish. Posada’s teammate, Kyle Perdew shot an even-par round to tie for ninth.
Southern Nazarene held steady in sixth place, followed by Arkansas-Monticello. Harding gained a position for the second-straight day to finish in eighth. East Central placed ninth with Northwestern Oklahoma State in 10th. SNU’s Cristian Valderrama finished in ninth place. Harding’s Juan Luis Sanchez Perez posted a 5-under 67 to move up 14 places. The Tigers’ Jordan Bates joined Valderrama, Greenwood and Perdew in a tie for ninth place.