Battle for the Belt
Lakeside graduate Cameron McRae led Henderson State Tuesday, the final day of the 17-team Battle for the Belt tournament at Hot Springs Country Club as the Reddies shot a 5-under 283 in the final 18 holes for the win.
Following Monday’s record-breaking second round, the Reddies won by 11 strokes, compiling a team score of 15-under 849 for the 36-hole tournament. The score ties the program’s best at a three-round tournament on a
par-72 course.
McRae shot a 4-under 68, his best round of the tournament, moving him into a tie for eighth place overall.
Mitchell Ford shot his second straight 3-under 69 Tuesday to finish
5-under for the tournament, leaving him tied for fifth place.
Kasoma Paulino carded his best round of the week with an even-par
72, while Trey DePriest rounded out the team’s scoring with a 2-over 74 for the day.
Nick Shapiro was the top individual for the Reddies, shooting a 3-over 75 on the third day to tie for second place with 6-under over three days. He tallied
15 birdies in the tournament, the most of any player in the field.
Kevin Boutier tied for 14th overall with a final round of 1-over 73, Stuart Krog was tied for 23rd overall with a
4-over 76 Tuesday and Christian Woods shot 1-over 73 to tie for 47th. Francisco Maciel shot 8-over 80 for 86th overall.
The Reddies’ last win came at the Great American Conference Men’s Golf Championships in April on the same Arlington Course.
Southern Arkansas finished second with a 4-under 860 with Central Missouri shooting a 1-over 865 to finish in third place. Southwestern Oklahoma State placed the next best of the participating GAC teams at 3-over-par 867. Arkansas Tech was sixth at 7-over-par
871, Harding tied with Delta State for
12th place at 25-over-par 889, Oklahoma Baptist was 15th at 35-over-par 899 and Northwestern Oklahoma State was last in the field at 44-over-par 908.
Delta State’s Zach Zediker took first
place with a three-day score of 8-under-par
208. Zediker posted a 71-68-69 to stay near the top of the leaderboard throughout the tournament. Kevin Elder, of Southern Arkansas, and Tyler Uhlig, from the University of Texas at Tyler, tied for second with Shapiro.
The tournament field included 16 teams from three NCAA Division II conferences in addition to the GAC. UT-Tyler is a member of the American Southwest Conference in Division III.
The annual event served this year as the Central/Midwest Region Preview as Henderson will host the 2019 NCAA Division II Central/Midwest Regional Championship in May on the Hot Springs Country Club’s Arlington Course.
Henderson will next travel to St. Joseph, Mo., on Monday to compete in the Fairfield Inn Central Region Invitational hosted by Missouri Western State.
The Reddie women shot a team score of
304 on Tuesday in Edmond, Okla., to finish in sixth place at the University of Central Oklahoma’s UCO Classic with a two-day score of 41-over 609.
Hanna Brauburger led the Reddies with a tie for 11th place, turning in the team’s best score Tuesday with a 1-over 72 with 13 pars and two birdies. She finished 7-over for the tournament.
Taylor Loeb tied for 15th overall with a team-high four birdies in the second round to card a 3-over 74. She tallied six birdies in the tournament, finishing at 9-over for the 36-hole event.
Luisa Gartmann shot a 6-over 77 Tuesday to finish 13th with an 8-over for two rounds, and Taylor Reed was the team’s fourth scorer with a 10-over 81.
Arkansas Tech won the 17-team event with a team score of 594 at the par-71 Golf Club of Edmond.
Henderson’s women’s team will travel on Monday to compete in the Dallas Baptist University Women’s Fall Classic at the Golf Club of Dallas.