EL PASO, Texas – (NMSU Media Relations) The New Mexico State University men’s golf won the Price’s Give ‘Em Five invitational Saturday, holding on to their second round lead and edging out the competition by one stroke.
The Aggies were leading the field heading into the third and final day of the tournament. The Aggies beat second place opponent University of Kansas City-Missouri by one stroke, finishing the tournament with a 46 under 818 to UMKC’s 819. Kansas finished a close third with a 822, while the host team UTEP finished at No. 6 with a 838.
San Jose State’s Cody Blick and UMKC’s Antoine Roznor finished tied for first shooting 18 under for the tournament. Isaac Merry, NM State’s leading scorer, tied for third with a 16 under 200 (63, 67, 700. Kenneth Fadke finished with a 206 (69, 68, 69), Luis Medina recorded a 206 (73, 68, 65), Pat Beyhan shot a 211 (69, 68, 74) and Brett Walker finished with a 215 (71, 73, 71) to round out the Aggie scoring.
Merry was leading the field entering the final day of the tournament, but great rounds from Blick and Roznor saw the Aggies No. 1 overtaken. A Las Cruces native, Merry is one of two freshmen on the Aggie’s team, having played for Onate High School.
Individuals for the Aggies were Travis Benson, Keith Bennett and David Wilson. Benson finished tied No. 37 with a 213 (74, 70, 69), Bennett was tied No. 77 with a 222 (77, 74, 77) and Wilson was alone at No. 84 with a 235 (79, 72, 84).
This is the Aggies last match heading into the winter break, resuming play Jan. 26 in Tucson, Ariz., for the Arizona Intercollegiate.
Kangaroos Come Up Just Short At Price's "Give 'Em 5" Invitational
(UMKC Media Relations) Despite a school record 54-hole tournament score of 819, -45 the Missouri-Kansas City men’s golf team fell just short of the tournament title at the Price’s “Give ‘Em 5” Invitational, trailing winner and WAC rival New Mexico State by just one shot in the final standings from the Butterfield Trail Golf Club in El Paso, Texas.
Antoine Rozner led the ‘Roos individually, as the ‘Roo junior broke the school record with a 198, -18 to finish as the Co-Champion in the event along with San Jose State’s Cody Blick, the No. 40 player in the country. Playing a clean final round, the Paris, France, native opened the day with a birdie on the par-4 1st and followed it with an eagle on the par-5 2nd. Rozner would go on to par the next 11 holes, before birdieing the par-5’s of 14 and 18 en route to a final round 67.
Mitch Tucker, meanwhile, also tallied three rounds in the 60’s after a final round 68 that placed him in sixth overall with the third lowest score in school history, a -15, 201. On the day Tucker carded two birdies on the front nine, and, after his lone bogey of the day on the 11th, closed out the round with three birdies over the final five holes.
Carding the ‘Roos third lowest score of the day was Cameron Wiltse, whose career-low 69 helped him climb to a tie for 31st in the standings. In the round, Wiltse fired back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes and added two more on the back nine, while carding just one bogey on the day.
Jackson Foth closed out the event in a tie for 50th at +1, notching a pair of birdies in the final round, while Thibault Vieilledent rounded out the UMKC lineup one shot back at +2 in a tie for 52nd after a final round 70 that featured four birdies, including three on the front nine.
Overall in the event, UMKC registered the first, second and fourth lowest rounds in school history and the lowest team score in school history, while Rozner finished with the lowest individual tournament score and the lowest round, Tucker recorded the third lowest tournament score and the fourth lowest round and Foth notched the ninth lowest round.
The Blue & Gold will be back in the spring when they head to the Snowman Getaway on Feb. 22-24 in Phoenix, Ariz.