Grand Canyon's Matteo Cristoni has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Golfer of the Week for April 6 through April 12.

 

Cristoni, a freshman from Modena, Italy, jumped 20 spots from his opening round to win his first individual title as a Lope with a 5-under-par 139. After shooting a 2-over-par 74 in the opening round, he returned to the course for the second day and fired a 7-under-par 65 to move atop the leaderboard. He also led the Lopes to the top of the team leaderboard as GCU tied with CSUN for the team title.

 

Other nominees: Abilene Christian's Zane Heusel tied for seventh individually at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, finishing with a 2-over-par 218 … Chicago State's Camron Jones won NKU's The Jewell, shooting a 2-under-par 140 to finish ahead of 77 other golfers … NM State's Garrison Smith tied for first place with a 3-under-par at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, using a round a 2-under-par 70 to move into a share of the lead … Sam Houston's Josh Herman led the Bearkats at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, shooting an even-par 216 to take fourth individually and lead SHSU to a runner-up team finish … UT Rio Grande Valley's Leonardo Novella tied for 58th at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, shooting an 18-over-par 234 … Utah Valley's Joseph Glenn led the Wolverines at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, shooting a 10-over-par 226 to tie for 34th place.

 

The regular season begins to wind down beginning this week. Chicago State will head to Ohio beginning on Sunday for the Wright State Invitational. Later in the week, Grand Canyon and Seattle U will tee off at the UC Davis Aggie Invitational while Dixie State, NM State and Utah Valley will meet up in Provo, Utah for the PING Cougar Classic, hosted by BYU.

 

Sam Houston's Chad Sewell leads the WAC in stroke average at 71.3 per round. CBU's Eeli Kujanpaa is second at 72.2 strokes per round and NM State's Aidan Thomas is third at 72.3. As a team, SHSU is the leader at 289.4 strokes per round. Grand Canyon is second at 291.7 and Utah Valley is third at 292.3.

 

The WAC will be in a unique situation this season with two teams having earned automatic qualifications to NCAA Regionals in May. NM State will be the defending WAC champions, having won the 2021 Championship by just one stroke at Boulder Creek GC. Sam Houston also earned an automatic selection after winning the Southland Conference Championship by 10 strokes over Lamar. The Bearkats then placed fourth at the NCAA Stillwater Regional to earn a spot at the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, where SHSU tied for ninth in the team standings. 

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC now has six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and will have three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools joined the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022. More recently, Tarleton announced this fall its intention to revive men's golf, beginning in fall of 2022.

 

For the second straight season, the 2022 WAC Men's Golf Championship will be played at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev. Made up of three nine-hole courses, the course is considered by many to be one of the top municipal golf courses in the country. Scenic vistas, cool creeks, colorful wildflowers, and smooth beach bunkers add to the lure of this unique golf course.