KANSAS CITY, MO. – Led by the all-tourney performance of
Gavin Metz (3
rd overall), the University of Sioux Falls Men's Golf Team recorded a sixth straight top-five finish this spring by placing third at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Men's Championships which concluded Sunday at Shoal Creek Golf Club.
USF, which finished with a 34-over par 886 (308, 286-291), was just behind champion Winona State at 31-over par 883 (301-294-288) and second place Bemidji State at 32-over par 884 (305-286-291). Over the final two rounds, USF's total of 577 was the best by any team. USF tied its second best finish in school history with only the second place finish in 2015 better. The 2013 team at USF was also third. With the win, the Warriors earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional, which will be played at Shoal Creek Golf Club in Kansas City, Missouri hosted by William Jewell College and the Kansas City Sports Commission on May 6-8. USF, which is ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA DII, will await word whether they will go to the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional as an at-large selection.
Bemidji State's Chris Swenson earned medalist honors as he finished at three-under-par as he shot rounds of 72-69-69-210. He finished two strokes ahead of Upper Iowa's Logan Schweinefus (76-70-66=212) and six strokes ahead of Metz.
For the first time, USF placed all five golfers in the top-20 (actually top-17) with Metz and
Brenden Bassing finishing in the top 10. With his third place finish, Metz recorded the program's best NSIC individual finish (
JJ Cooney, 6
th, 2018). Previously the most USF had in the top 20 was three in both 2013 and 2015. US had its second straight (no NSIC tourney in 2020) top five finish at the league championships after placing fifth in 2019.
USF was led today by Metz who carded a three-over par 216 (75-68-73) and earned NSIC All-Tourney honors. Bassing was 10
th with a 10-over par 223 (77-72-74). Junior
Jack Evans placed third at 12-over par 225 (81-70-74). Both
Jacob Zosel (76-79-73) and
JJ Cooney (81-76-71) finished 15-over par 228.
JJ Cooney is USF's first-ever men's golfer to earn four top-20 finishes at an NSIC Tournament.
Metz opened the
NSIC Championships with four-over par 75 (36-39). He had 11 pars plus birdies on the hole 11 and three in the opening round. In round two, he had 13 pars and birdies on holes three, 14 and 16. In carding a final round total of 73 (38-35), he was two-over par with six pars and five birdies including the holes one, two, eight, 13 and 16. He had 10 birdies for the tourney and 30 pars as he finished at 216.
Bassing moved up to 10
th during the final day when he carded a 74 (36-38) with 10 pars and birdies on holes 10 and 13. Following his 77 on day one, he followed up with a 72 which included 11 pars and three birdies. In carding a 220, he had 32 pars and 10 birdies.
On the final day, Evans had a 74 (38-36) or three-over par round. He had 14 pars and a birdies on hole 1 in his final round. As a result he finished 13
th with his 225 and a career-best finish at the NSIC Tourney. On day two, he moved up 21 spots to a tie for 14
th after carding a one-under par 70 (35-35). He carded a team-high 15 pars along with two birdies, including fifth and six hole. He finished with 39 pars and five birdies in three days of golf.
In his final round, Zosel had his best round of the tourney at 73 (37-36) as he had birdies on holes three, eight and 10 plus 11 pars as he was two-over for the day. In the second round, he had a 79 (43-36) as he had nine pars plus a birdie on the 13
th hole. In the opening round he had a 76 with nine pars and birdies on holes sixth and seven. In total, he had 29 pars and six birdies.
Like Zosel, Cooney, a three-time All-NSIC performer, had his best round in the final day with an even par 71 (37-34). He had five birdies including holes two, four, seven, nine and 12. In addition, he had eight pars in the round. In finished tied for 17
th, he had a 228 with improvement over each of the final two rounds. In total, he had 24 pars plus eight birdies.
