Arkansas Tech University posted a team score of 298 on Tuesday and won a tiebreaker to claim the team championship in the rain-shortened Midwestern State University Invitational at Wichita Falls Country Club in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Arkansas Tech and St. Edward’s University finished with matching team totals of 298. The Wonder Boys won the tiebreaker because their fifth score — a 78 posted by Graham Rucker — was better than the round of 80 returned by St. Edward’s No. 5 man Logan Boatner.
It was the second team title of the 2011-12 season for head coach Luke Calcatera and Arkansas Tech, which won the Bison Fall Classic at Stone Links Golf Course in North Little Rock on Sept. 19-20.
Parker Hale led the Wonder Boys to victory on Tuesday with a 2-over par round of 73 over the 6,822-yard, par-71 course. He tied for third in the individual standings.
Jack Garrett (T-9th, 74) and Jason Purdy (T-9th, 74) also had top-10 finishes for Arkansas Tech. Conner Smith shot 77 and finished tied for 30th, while Rucker earned a share of 39th place.
Santiago Quintero of St. Edward’s won the individual title with an even-par round of 71.
A total of 19 teams and 99 student-athletes competed in the tournament, which was shortened from 36 to 18 holes when Monday’s first round was rained out.
Arkansas Tech will return to action on Monday, March 26, and Tuesday, March 27, when it hosts the Dave Falconer Memorial Golf Classic at Chamberlyne Country Club in Danville.
Both the Wonder Boys and the Golden Suns golf teams will compete in the inaugural event.
Falconer, who passed away on June 11, 2011, served as head men’s golf coach at Arkansas Tech from 1989-2011. He is the only coach to ever lead a team from Arkansas to the Gulf South Conference men’s golf championship. The Wonder Boys earned that title in 2004.
He also led the Arkansas Tech men’s golf program to four Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles (1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995), three berths in the NAIA National Tournament (1993, 1994 and 1995) and seven appearances in NCAA Division II postseason competition (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010).
Click here to learn more about the Arkansas Tech men’s golf program.
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