Low Strokes, High Grades

They’ve been anticipating it all season, but perhaps a little scared to get their hopes too high, but finally the men’s golf team can brag. After finishing fourth at the Great Lakes Regional last week, their overall place in the region should earn them a the needed recommendation for an invitation to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament in May.

The men’s golf team is experiencing a successful year both on and off the green. The team finished fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) match a week prior to the recent fourth place finish. In the mean time, the men are scoring high in the classroom, while carrying a 3.52 cumulative GPA.

“We’ve done a really good job of finishing well,” said senior Chris York of the team’s play in tournaments. “We’ve just had a tough time winning one.”

The Great Lakes Region was a two-day tournament in which sophomore Kyle Leach and freshman Brooks Herrick led the team to fourth by tying for eighth with a three-over-par.

The men finished fourth among the 13 teams competing in the GLVC Championship held over a three day period at Otter Creek Golf Club. The team was only 24 strokes behind the winning Northern Kentucky team with their final tally of 910. Of the top eight schools, they were the only team not to break 300 on a single day, as their scores were 301-302-307.

Herrick was again the Knights’ leader as he tied for 14th with 226, 11-over-par. Leach tied for 17th with 227 and York finished in a three-way tie for 22nd with 228.

“Brooks has played really, really well, (this season)” said York on the freshman. “He kind of surprised everyone.”
Previously, the Knights were third in the Great Lakes Region Spring Invitational, shooting 11-over-par, six shots behind the winner. Leach led the team and was only one shot away from earning medalist honors with his three-under-par.

The men also hosted a home invitational at Persimmon Ridge Golf Club at the end of March.

“The problem is Persimmon Ridge is a pretty tough course,” said York. He said it is sometimes hard to convince
teams to compete in their tournament due to the difficulty of the course.

The men finished third out of the twelve teams at the two-day tournament. All five Knights finished in the top 22. Freshman Doug Wilkinson and Herrick led the team who came in third and fourth respectively.

In the school realm, the team has a chance to post four Academic All-American Scholars this season. It is rare for a team to post more than two All-Americans in one season. To qualify, an athlete must have a stroke average below 77 and a GPA of 3.2. According to York, two of the Knights should qualify for sure while the play in their final tournaments will determine whether the other two qualify.

The men’s 3.52 GPA was also the highest cumulative GPA of all Bellarmine athletic teams as of last semester.
Now, with their regular season complete, the men await word on the Super Regional. The NCAA Super Regional selection is based off of points earned by teams over three particular tournaments, including this one. The Knights were tied for first with five points while being ranked third in the region prior to the Great Lakes Regional. The top six teams from each region are invited to compete.

Good luck to the Knights for an extended season—and for finals and those high GPAs!

Oh, and by the way, these guys do take time to just relax between studying the books and swinging their clubs, they're big on playing cards during their travels to matches.