Wonder Boys Among Golf’s Elite Eight

Arkansas Tech University advanced to the match play portion of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships for a second consecutive year.

The Wonder Boys saved their best round of the week for the final day of stroke play, posting 7-under 281 on Wednesday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Arkansas Tech completed 54 holes of stroke play at 6-under 858, which was good for a share of fifth place and a berth in match play.

The Wonder Boys’ season ended with a tiebreaker loss to Lynn University in the quarterfinal round of match play on Thursday. Tech and Lynn both won two matches and they halved one. The Fighting Knights advanced to the semifinal round due to tiebreaker procedures set forth by the NCAA participant manual for the 2018 championships.

Tech’s Wednesday surge was led by Austin Gean. The product of nearby Florence, Ala., shot 5-under 67 in the final round of stroke play. His round included an eagle on the par-5 17th hole, three birdies and 14 pars.

Gean finished tied for seventh in the individual standings with a three-day total of 6-under 210.

Putter Srinoon (T-20th, 68-77-70-215), Kellen Gray (T-34th, 75-71-72-218), Luke Cornett (T-39th, 73-74-73-220) and Shawn Tsai (T-55th, 71-80-72-223) also contributed to the Wonder Boys’ berth in match play.

John VanDerLaan of Florida Southern College won the individual national title with a 54-hole total of 17-under 199. He led the Moccasins to a first-place finish in the stroke play portion of the event with a three-day total of 840.