Monday, September 18
Ruston, La. (Squire Creek C.C.)
All Day
Stephen F. Austin
at
Jim Rivers Intercollegiate
Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography
SFA Finishes Second at Jim Rivers Intercollegiate to Begin Fall Season
9/19/2017 6:20:00 PM | Men's Golf
The ‘Jacks took home second place at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate with a three-round score of 8-under 856, finishing higher than eight other Southland Conference teams in SFA’s first tournament of 2017-18
RUSTON, La. – Sitting in fourth place after the first two rounds Monday at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate, the Stephen F. Austin men's golf team shot a 2-under 286 in the final round Tuesday morning to capture a second-place finish. Shooting par or better for all three rounds at the Squire Creek Country Club in Ruston, Louisiana, the Lumberjacks finished well ahead of eight other Southland Conference teams with a two-day total of 8-under 856.
The second-place finish was 13 strokes off tournament winner South Florida (843), who ranked No. 56 nationally at the end of the 2016-17 season according to Golfstat.com, and was six strokes better than Conference USA member Louisiana Tech (862).
Three 'Jacks placed in the top 10 as junior Angelo Leyvani (San Antonio, Texas) led the group of five with a second-place finish, followed by true freshmen Andy Lopez (Dallas, Texas) and Max Kettler (Southlake, Texas), who tied for seventh and ninth respectively.
"Today we played with a top-50 team in the country and went toe-to-toe with them all day long," head coach Trey Schroeder said after the tournament's final round. "Today, our big cheese, home run hitter, goal scorer had a great tournament but tripped at the end to lose by just one. Just like Mo Farah, who tripped in the 5,000 meters and still won gold, Angelo's story will be the same. I am very proud of the guys for getting off to a great start for the year."
Leyvani began the final round of play in second place after shooting a 6-under 66 in the second round Monday afternoon. He held onto his final spot with a 1-under 71 Tuesday morning to finish the two-day tournament with a total of 7-under 209, just one stroke off of champion Cristian DiMarco (208) of South Florida.
In his first collegiate golf tournament of his career, Lopez entered Tuesday tied for 11th but rose four spots after shooting a 1-under 71 in the final round, finishing with a three-round total of 3-under 213. Similarly, true freshman Kettler was tied for 11th after day one but climbed up two spots after going an even par Tuesday to earn a total score of 2-under 214. Leyvani, Lopez and Kettler all shot par or better in every round of the tournament.
After shooting 4-over 78 in the opening round and 2-over 74 in the second round, senior Blake Stock (Hewitt, Texas) improved his round by another two strokes Tuesday as he shot at par to end the tournament at 8-over 224. His gradual improvement allowed him to tie for 43rd after sitting tied for 59th Monday. Rounding out the SFA golfers was freshman Steven Fabik, who tied for 46th with a three-round total of 9-over 225.
The 'Jacks outpaced Conference USA member UTSA (867) by 11 strokes and were 13 strokes ahead of Southland opponents, Central Arkansas (869) and Abilene Christian (869), who tied for fifth.
After placing 10th a year ago with a 25-over 889, SFA bested its 2016 showing at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate by an impressive 33 strokes.
Up Next…
The 'Jacks will have 10 days off from competition before traveling to Simpsonville, Kentucky, for the University of Louisville's three-day Cardinal Challenge, Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Team Results
| 1. | South Florida | -21 | 282-277-284 | 843 |
| 2. | SFA | -8 | 288-282-286 | 856 |
| 3. | Louisiana Tech | -2 | 294-285-283 | 862 |
| 4. | UTSA | +3 | 283-286-298 | 867 |
| T5. | Central Arkansas | +5 | 280-289-300 | 869 |
| T5. | Abilene Christian | +5 | 293-288-288 | 869 |
| 7. | Missouri State | +10 | 287-298-289 | 874 |
| T8. | Southern Miss | +22 | 292-289-305 | 886 |
| T8. | Houston Baptist | +22 | 304-289-293 | 886 |
| 10. | Lamar | +23 | 294-295-298 | 887 |
| 11. | Nicholls | +28 | 296-296-300 | 892 |
| 12. | Southeastern Louisiana | +32 | 294-300-302 | 896 |
| 13. | Incarnate Word | +37 | 310-291-300 | 901 |
| 14. | New Orleans | +52 | 309-305-302 | 916 |
Top-10 Leaderboard
| 1. | Cristian DiMarco | South Florida | -8 | 70-69-69 | 208 |
| 2. | Angelo Leyvani | SFA | -7 | 72-66-71 | 209 |
| 3. | Lewis George | Central Arkansas | -6 | 65-68-77 | 210 |
| 4. | Joacim Ahlund | Louisiana Tech | -5 | 71-72-68 | 211 |
| T5. | Kyle Flexsenhar | South Florida | -4 | 70-71-71 | 212 |
| T5. | Felix Palson | Louisiana Tech | -4 | 72-68-72 | 212 |
| T7. | Alex Clouse | Abilene Christian | -3 | 71-72-70 | 213 |
| T7. | Andy Lopez | SFA | -3 | 70-72-71 | 213 |
| T9. | Max Kettler | SFA | -2 | 72-70-72 | 214 |
| T9. | Jimmy Jones | South Florida | -2 | 74-67-73 | 214 |
| T9. | Matt Lorenz | Southern Miss | -2 | 69-72-73 | 214 |
| T9. | Zander Lozano | UTSA | -2 | 65-74-75 | 214 |
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
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