MG wins ASC Tournament; White wins individual title

04/22/08

   The UMHB men's golf team poses with its ASC Championship Trophy (left) and Eric White accepts his individual championship trophy from ASC Commissioner Amy Carlton.

Anna, TX - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's golf team fired the lowest round of the tournament to close out the event and the Cru went on to win the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the third time in the last eight years Tuesday afternoon in Anna. The UMHB men posted a 300-297-288=885 total and beat second-place Texas Lutheran University's 296-302-297=895 by 10 strokes to capture the conference crown. U.T.-Tyler finished third with a 303-307-299=909, U.T.-Dallas took fourth place at 314-314-303=931, McMurry University claimed fifth place after shooting 313-314-310=937, Hardin-Simmons University was sixth at 318-314-315=947, LeTourneau University finished seventh at 309-323-318=950 and Mississippi College took eighth place with a 333-323-307=963 total. The two-day, 54-hole event was played on a par-72, 7,027-yard layout at Hurricane Creek Golf Course in Anna.

UMHB's Eric White won the individual title after blistering the course for a 73-70-71=214 to finish two-under-par for the tournament. White beat UMHB teammate Ryan Eastman (77-72-73) and Texas Lutheran's Ryan Kiel (74-74-74) by eight strokes after that pair finished second with 222's. The Cru's Davis Dewald tied for fifth place with a 74-77-73=224, Casey Wharton took ninth place with a 76-79-71=226 and Garrison Nordt tied for 20th place after posting a 78-78-78=234 score. White, Eastman and Dewald were all named to the ASC All-Conference First Team. Wharton was a Second Team ASC All-Conference selection. UMHB head coach Randy Mann was also named ASC Coach of the Year for the third time. This is the final ASC Tournament as a head coach for Mann, who will move to a full-time Associate Director of Athletics job in June.

"I am just so proud of all of our guys for the way they stepped up this week," Mann said. "They set a goal at the beginning of the year and just kept improving from tournament to tournament. Every one of them contributed and really stepped up and this is just a great feeling!"

The Cru will now advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the first time in school history. The NCAA National Tournament will be played May 13-16 at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia. This is the third ASC title for the UMHB men. The Cru also won the ASC Tournament in 2001 and 2005.