GULF SHORES, Ala. – Hilltopper Golf fired off a 9-under 279 on the final day of the Craft Farms Intercollegiate to climb four spots on the leaderboard and finish third as a team. Redshirt sophomore Nic Hofman led the charge as he shot the lowest round of any golfer in the 75-man field on Monday with a 5-under 67.
WKU was able to count only even-par scores or better with three Hilltoppers under par in the final round.
"What a great day for the Tops," said head coach Chan Metts. "I was so proud of how they responded to a frustrating 36-hole first day. We made so many mistakes in the first two rounds with a lot of doubles ore worse. You just can't make enough birdies on this course to make up for those big numbers. We also made some really bad bogeys on the par 5 too."
"Today, I'm so proud because of how they responded to all those frustrations and hit committed shots against some tough wind and pins," he continued. "We didn't count a score worse than bogey today which is tough here. We also took care of the par 5's. To post the lowest round of the tournament and to do that in the last round is another big step for us. That is solid progress from our last round at Sea Palms where we battled nerves in the final round. I've been saying this is a sneaky good team for awhile and I'm glad we are starting to realize that and play like it. I know I repeat myself a lot, but we are looking to peak in Aril and just need to keep building on this progress."
Hofman got as low as 6-under as he logged six birdies in his first 10 holes. He carded two bogeys before birdying his second to last hole to finish back at 5-under. He tied for second, the best finish by any Hilltopper this season.
After a tough start, senior captain Luke Fuller made an impressive comeback throughout his round. He was 1-over through five holes before birdying four of his final 12 holes to finish the round at 3-under 69. He climbed 22 spots on the leaderboard and tied for 17th along with fifth-year senior Landon Carner who carded a 1-under 71 on Monday.
The Hilltoppers finished off scoring with an even-par 72 from junior Connery Meyer at the 7,127-yard Craft Farms Cotton Creek Golf Course. He improved by four shots from his first and second round scores and moved up 11 spots on the leaderboard.
Sophomore Riley Grindstaff posted a 3-over 75 and tied for 49th overall. Freshman Hayden Warren competed in his first collegiate tournament and put up a final-round, 4-over 75. He tied for 30th overall.
"I'm very proud of Nic," added Metts. "He put together a really solid week ball striking and around the greens. I was happy to see Luke and Landon climb to a top-20 finish with solid rounds as well. Hats off to Hayden for starting his college career off with an eagle on his first collegiate hold: the par 5 10th, which he also eagled two out of three rounds."
WKU has one final regular season tournament at the Boilermaker Invitational hosted by Purdue on April 15-16.
Results – Final
T2. Nic Hofman – 73, 72, 67 – 212
T17. Landon Carner – 73, 75, 71 – 219
T17. Luke Fuller – 75, 75, 69 – 219
T30. Hayden Warren* – 76, 71, 75 – 222
T37. Connery Meyer – 76, 76, 72 – 224
T49. Riley Grindstaff – 77, 75, 75 – 227
*competing as an individual
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