The St. Edward’s men’s golf team had a huge rally on the back nine to move up to fifth place in the final round of the 2012 NCAA DII Midwest/South Central Regional Wednesday afternoon. They grabbed the final qualifying spot to advance to the National Tournament next week. The tournament featured the top 10 teams in each region and was held at the 7112-yard, Jefferson City Country Club.
St. Edward’s (300-293=593) started the day in sixth place and was four shots back of Grand Valley State (296-296-295=887) for fifth place after the first nine holes. That is when the rally started for the Hilltoppers. Holes 10 through 16 were key for St. Edward’s as the four counting scores for the day played those holes at six-under par. Playing alongside the Hilltoppers, the Lakers played the same six-hole stretch at eight-over par.
Jose Hernandez (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Instituto Andes de Luis Potosi), who was four-over at the turn, had three-straight birdies at 12, 13 and 14. He would finish with a 74 and end up tied for 36th place. Santiago Quintero (Valencia Venezuela/Liceo Camoroco) was one-under at the turn and he kept things rolling, scoring birdies at 11 and 15. He would eventually tie fellow teammate Luke Kwon (Carrollton, Texas/Hebron HS) for 12th place. Enrique Livas (Monterrey, Mexico/UT Arlington) may have had the round of the day for the Hilltoppers. After shooting a combined 10-over par for the first two rounds, the sophomore made the turn at two-under and shot par on the back nine for a final-round 70. That moved him up to a tie for 30th place. Logan Boatner (Humble, Texas/Atacoscocita HS) also played the key holes well, as he made a birdie at hole 15 and finished with a 76 to tie for 71st place.
“I am really proud of the team today,” head coach Todd Ohlmeyer said. “They bounced back from some rough starts and were able to scrape together some solid rounds to get us to Nationals. It was a total team effort from all nine of our guys the entire season, all the way down to our volunteer assistant Chris Massoletti. I am really happy for Santiago as we were so close his freshman season and for him to finally make it as a senior is a true reward for his four years of hard work. We are excited to see what we can do in Louisville and are ready to get started.”
Central Missouri (286-289-289=864) ran away with the championship as it led wire-to-wire and won by 12 strokes. Washburn (299-291-286=876) finished in second place with Central Oklahoma (300-290-287=877) and Indianapolis (296-295-289=880) finishing right behind them in third and fourth place, respectively. The top five spots qualified for the National Tournament, which will be held at the Cardinal Golf Club in Louisville, Ken., May 15-19. Also, Cameron’s Trey Lawson and Ferris State’s Kyle Wittenbach qualified as individuals for the tournament. The tournament will be part of the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival host by Bellarmine University. Women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and softball will all hold its National Tournament in the Louisville area at the same time.
This is the first time the Hilltoppers have qualified for the National Tournament since 2008 when they competed at the Memorial Golf Club in Houston, Texas. St. Edward’s may have history on its side, as that was also a Festival year for NCAA Division II, as the Hilltoppers rallied in the final round before finishing tied for second after a three-team playoff.
St. Edward’s will wait and see where they are seeded for the National Tournament, which will determine their tee times for the first two days. Check the Hilltopper Athletic Website for updates.