Final Results
LAKELAND, Fla. – The St. Edward's men's golf team finished in ninth place in the 33
rd annual Matlock Invitational Tuesday afternoon. The Hilltoppers played among a field of 15 schools that included 11 teams ranked in the Top-25 of Division II. Despite the ninth place finish, St. Edward's defeated four ranked teams during the tourney.
St. Edward's (298-295-298=891) finished eight strokes behind eighth place #3 West Florida (295-293-295=883) and 10 strokes behind seventh place Florida Southern College (299-290-292=881). Tenth-ranked Lynn (281-286-285=852), #1 Barry (288-281-289=858), and #12 Armstrong Atlantic (280-293-290=863) rounded out the top three.
St. Edward's defeated #5 Columbus State, #11 Georgia College, #15 Lander, and #22 Rollins along the way.
St. Edward's was led by
JOSE HERNANDEZ (75-74-71=220). Hernandez shot one under par today and tied for 22
nd overall. "Jose played a solid tournament and today's 71 was one-under par," said head coach
Todd Ohlmeyer. "I think this will be a confidence builder for him for the rest of the semester."
BRIAN SMITH (76-73-72=221) shot par in today's third round and finished tied for 28
th overall. "Brian was steady for us all week and we need that consistent play out of him all year if we are going to achieve our goals," said Coach Ohlmeyer.
DILLON VAN ESSEN (72-75-78=225) tied for 40
th overall.
ENRIQUE LIVAS (76-73-80=229) and
ANDRES RODAS (75-77-77=229) each tied for 54
th overall.
Individually, Adam Svensson of Barry (71-64-70=205), Ernesto Vitienes of Lynn (68-69-72=209) finished first and second overall.
"We had it going for a while out there today but didn't finish it off," said Coach Ohlmeyer. "It was a good test for us this week and we learned a few things about ourselves, which will help us be better as the year progresses."
Ohlmeyer concluded that, "While the week didn't go exactly as planned, I am confident we are better because of it and look forward to playing the TPC San Antonio next week."
St. Edward's will return to action next week for the Oklahoma Christian Invitational in San Antonio, Texas. Action will take place from Feb. 17-18 at the TPC San Antonio.