DII Men's Golf Championship: St. Leo's defeats Chico State to earn first NCAA title in program history
St. Leo's celebrates first NCAA title in program history
(St. Leo's Athletics Photo)
DENVER, CO (May 21, 2016) - St. Leo University earned
the first national title in school history, defeating Chico
State 3-2 in a down-to-the-wire finish at the NCAA
Division II Men’s Golf Championship at Green Valley
Ranch.
The Lions, who had been so impressive all week
with individual medalist Hugo Bernard and a record-
setting team pace, clinched the trophy thanks to Griffin
Clark’s three-stroke win over Kelley Sullivan in the fifth
pairing.
Chico State got on the board first, with Justin Wiles
taking advantage of Liam Ainsworth’s bogey on 17 to
flip the scoreline and win by two strokes at -1. St. Leo
canceled that out with Ryan Gendron’s seven-stroke
victory against Matt Hutchens, but Lee Gearhart erased
Joey Savoie’s lead on the back nine to win by three.
Bernard recovered from a slow start to beat Alistair
Docherty by seven, and that set up Clark’s three-shot
victory in the fifth slot to win as he tapped in for par on
18.
Saturday's team win completed a tournament
sweet for St. Leo. On Thursday St. Leo freshman Hugo
Bernard won the university’s first national championship
in any sport, breaking the tournament record at -13 to
capture the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf individual title.
NOTABLES
- St. Leo’s golf title is the first in program history,
but may not be the last – their men’s tennis team was
scheduled to take on Hawaii Pacific later in the day in
their D-II final in Denver.
- St. Leo was appearing in only its second NCAA
Championships, and was third a year ago.
- It was the sixth year of the medal match-play team
championship format. St. Leo is the third different
Florida team to win it, along with Nova Southeastern
(2012, 2015) and Barry (2013, 2014).
QUOTABLES
“We got off to a good start and that makes it
easier on the coach and the players … It’s pretty
amazing. To be the first in school history is
unbelievable.” – St. Leo head coach Chris
Greenwood
“We got through the first round, then got our biggest
rival Lynn, which was almost a preview of today. It feels
great to get it done – that was the goal the whole year.
It feels good.” – St. Leo junior Joey Savoie
NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships –
Team Final
[1] St. Leo 3, [2] Chico State 2
Justin Wiles (Chico State) def. Liam Ainsworth (St.
Leo),
-1
Ryan Gendron (St. Leo) def. Matt Hutchins (Chico
State), -7
Lee Gearhart (Chico State) def. Joey Savoie (St. Leo),
-3
Hugo Bernard (St. Leo) def. Alistair Docherty (Chico
State), -7
Griffin Clark (St. Leo) def. Kelley Sullivan (Chico State),
-3
Editors Note: Story by NCAA.com
ABOUT THE
NCAA Division II Championship
The National Championship of championship of
NCAA
Division II
men's college golf teams. From its inception through
2010, it was a 72-hole stroke play team
competition,
with an additional award for the lowest scoring
individual competitor. The team format changed
starting in 2011 to 54 holes of stroke play followed
by an eight-team single elimination medal match
play competition. The 54-hole individual leader is
the
individual champion.
View Complete Tournament Information