MG finishes tenth at NCAA Tournament

05/16/08

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Braselton, GA- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's golf team gutted out windy conditions and a difficult finish to hold on to a top ten finish at the NCAA Division III National Championships Friday in Georgia. The Cru men fired a final round 310 total to finish at 311-302-298-310=1221 for the tournament and post a tenth place finish. St. John's won its second straight NCAA championship after firing a 314-291-296-291=1192, edging University of Redlands (304-300-293-298=1195) by three strokes for the title. St. John Fisher took third place with a 302-294-297-306=1199 total and Methodist College finished fourth with a 311-298-291-303=1203 score. Skidmore University claimed fifth place after firing a 301-310-295-298=1204, Oglethorpe University was sixth at 306-296-303-305=1210, Wesley College took seventh place with a 311-304-305-293=1213, Huntingdon College finished eighth with a 305-311-300-299=1215 and University of La Verne finished ninth, two shots ahead of UMHB with a 291-322-298-308=1219. The 23-team field played on a par-71, 7,030-yard layout on the Chateau Course at Chateau Elan Golf Course in Braselton, Georgia.

Casey Wharton posted the top individual finish for the Cru. Wharton finished at 74-74-76-77=301 and tied for 19th individually. He earned Third Team All-American honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America following the tournament. Davis Dewald tied for 33rd for UMHB after firing a 78-78-71-77=304, Eric White tied for 50th place with an 84-75-73-77=309, Ryan Eastman tied for 70th place with an 81-75-78-79=313 and Garrison Nordt shot 78-83-80-79=320 to tie for 100th place for the Cru. Scott Harris, Jr. of St. John Fisher was the individual national champion after shooting 68-71-71-75=285.

"To finish top ten, I am just so excited," Cru head coach Randy Mann said. "This is the first tournament appearance in school history and to finish tenth is quite an accomplishment. The guys gave it everything they had and I am really proud of them for that. I am just really proud of them."

The Cru was making the first NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the men's golf program. UMHB posted the second-best team finish for an American Southwest Conference men's golf team, trailing only Texas Lutheran's seventh-place finish in last year's tournament. Wharton and Eastman both closed out their UMHB careers with the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA tournament was also the final tournament for Cru head coach Randy Mann. Mann will become a full-time Associate Director of Athletics for UMHB in June and Aaron Rodeffer will take over the Cru men's golf program in July.