Reddies win fourth-straight HSU Invitational tournament

MOUNTAIN HOME — Henderson State took the title in its home event for the fourth straight year after posting the low score in Tuesday’s third round of the HSU Invitational at Big Creek Golf Club in Mountain Home.

Kevin Boutier led the Reddies with a 3-over-par 75 Tuesday to win the individual title with a tournament score of 218, picking up his first career win. Boutier previously had a fourth-place finish in the

2017 Rattler Invitational as his top finish.

The Reddies carded a 291 for the third round, led on the day by Cameron McRae, whose 1-under-par 71 Tuesday earned him a fourth-place finish. Mitchell Ford and Trey DePriest also finished in the top 10.

Ford carded an 8-over-par 80 Tuesday for seventh overall with a score of 227 while DePriest turned in his best round of the tournament — an even-par 72 — to finish tied for eighth. The final scorer for Henderson State, Nick Shapiro, turned in his best round Tuesday as well, shooting a 1-over-par 73 to finish tied for 19th.

The Reddies carded an 888 for the tournament to finish ahead of Southern Arkansas by 14 strokes.

Individually, Adam Schoettler carded a tournament score of 228 to finish tied for eighth place while teammates Francisco Maciel (229) and Christian Woods (231) finished tied for 14th and 21st, respectively.

McRae and Ford sank a total of nine birdies each in the tournament, and Boutier shot for par on a tournament-high 42 holes.

The Reddies next event comes on April 16 and 17 when they travel to Heber Springs to compete in the Red Apple Inn Invitational, hosted by Harding.

Reddie women finish third at HSU Invite

MOUNTAIN HOME — A disappointing second round of 311 on Tuesday left Henderson State in third place at the HSU Invitational.

The Reddies, who were tied with Texas A&M-Commerce with a 303 after the first round, saw three of their five players with an increase in the second round.

One of the three Reddies to shoot a 5-over-par 77 in the final round, Taylor Loeb led Henderson State in the tournament, picking up her best finish of the year with a 4-over-par 148 for a third-place finish. The sophomore from Mount Saint Mary Academy in Little Rock has now finished in the top five of her last three events.

Loeb also earned Great American Conference Golfer of the Week honors for the finish.

Hanna Brauburger and Sarah Wright also carded a 77 on Tuesday, claiming a top 10 finish in the tournament. Brauburger’s 152 left her tied for seventh while Wright finished tied for 10th with a 153.

Luisa Gartman and Allison Davis ended up tying for 31st overall to round out the scoring for Henderson. Gartmann finished with a

8-over-par 80 while Davis carded a

9-over-par 81 to claim a two-round score of 162 each.

Individually, Taylor Reed finished with back-to-back rounds of 4-over-par 76 to finish tied for seventh with a 152 while Christian Barrett’s 7-over-par 79 in the second round left her tied for 22nd with a 157.

Henderson State’s two-round team score of 614 left the team just six strokes behind champion Texas A&M-Commerce and one behind Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Davis finished with the only eagle of the tournament on the 7th hole Tuesday while Loeb, Brauburger, Wright and Reed each had five birdies in the tournament.

The Reddies travel to Springfield, Mo., next week to play in the Central Region Preview at Rivercut Golf Club. Arkansas Tech will host the April 9–10 tournament.

GAC honors golfers

RUSSELLVILLE — Two Arkansas golfers earned Golfer of the Week honors from the Great American Conference, the conference office announced Wednesday.

The sixth set of awards for the spring season honored Henderson State’s Taylor Loeb and Arkansas Tech’s Luke Cornett.

Loeb earned her best individual finish of the season with a thirdplace finish at the HSU Invitational at Big Creek Golf Club in Mountain Home. The sophomore from Mount Saint Mary Academy in Little Rock claimed her third-straight top-five finish while leading the Reddies to their third-straight topthree finish. She tied for first place in the first round of the tournament with a 1-under-par 71 before shooting a 5-over-par 77 Tuesday.

Cornett shot a career-low 5-under-par 67 in the final round of the Argonaut Cup in Pensacola, Fla., to lead the Wonder Boys to a fourthplace finish, the team’s ninth-consecutive top five finish. The senior from Drasco placed third in the three-round tournament as he recorded the third-lowest 54-hole individual score in school history. His third-place finish placed him ahead of 14 nationally-ranked competitors.

Northwestern Oklahoma State junior Brittani Casement, Harding junior Brooklyn Terry and HSU junior Kevin Boutier were also considered for the awards.

Casement shot a 1-over-par

73 in the first round of the HSU Spring Invitational, setting a school record for the lowest round score, before finishing 16th in the tournament. Terry finished tied for

23rd in the Argonaut Invitational after posting a career-best 235 over the 54-hole tournament.

Boutier won the HSU Invitational with a 218, two strokes ahead of his nearest competitor to claim his first collegiate win, and he led the Reddies to win the tournament for the fourth straight year.