St. Thomas made history at the Big O Classic.
The school earned its first Division I victory in any sport after three second-place finishes last year. It won the 14-team tournament at Indian Creek Golf Course in Nebraska, shooting 1-under 863 for the tournament and beating host Omaha and Southern Illinois Edwardsville by five shots.
The Purple started the final day tied for the lead with SIU Edwardsville, just two shots ahead of Omaha, the host school. St. Thomas carded a one-over-289. The 863 total was only two shots off the low 54-hole score of last school year.
Matthew Raab tied his career-best round with his 3-under 69, aided by seven birdies to offset four bogeys. His 54-hole score of 214 was a career best by one shot. He placed fifth overall in the field of 93 golfers.
North Carolina gets on track in Texas
It’s safe to say North Carolina hadn’t played up to its preseason expectations through its first two tournaments of the 2022-23 season.
Yet the Tar Heels got on track in Texas against a field that featured some of the best men’s teams in the country. North Carolina captured the Ben Hogan Collegiate, finishing at 15-under 825 as a team for the week. It beat second-place Texas Tech by nine shots. The Tar Heels led after every round.
And North Carolina got a big win in large part to its big three: David Ford, Dylan Menante and Austin Greaser. The latter, who won the Western Amateur this summer, finished in a tie for third at 6 under. Texas freshman Christiaan Maas and Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, who captured the 2022 NCAA individual title.
Ford finished in a tie for sixth at 4 under while Menante came in a stroke behind.
Tar Heels knock off impressive field w/six top-10 teams to win Ben Hogan Collegiate by nine strokes. Greaser, Ford, Menante in top 8, Burnett 15th, Fountain top 30 as everyone contributes to team title, 11th under DiBitetto/Clark. https://t.co/8h2vX7rr6r#GoHeels #TarHeelTough pic.twitter.com/mJpzfG0cFA
— UNC Men’s Golf (@UNCmensGolf) October 4, 2022
TCU’s Gustav Frimodt picked his first collegiate victory. He shot 8-under 202 after 54 holes, beating Pepperdine’s William Mouw by a shot for the trophy.
The Ben Hogan Collegiate was played at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Little Rock wins at Trinity Forest
Little Rock picked up a big win at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, shooting a 31 under total over three days to win the Trinity Forest Invitational. Little Rock beat SMU by three shots and Baylor by eight.
SMU’s Nathan Petronzio won the individual crown at 13-under 203. He shot 4 under in the final round to win by two shots over Furman’s Walker Crosby and North Texas’ Vicente Marzillo.
Crosby shot 7-under 65 in the final round to vault up the leaderboard. Matteo Cristoni was the highest-finishing player from Little Rock, coming in fourth at 10 under. Anton Albers was at 7 under while Jansen Smith finished at 6 under.
Four Trojans finished in the top-20 and Little Rock shot 31-under to win the Trinity Forest Invitational for its second team title of 2022-23.
Through three events this year, Little Rock has posted a head-to-head record of 36-1-1.
: https://t.co/aBJGZvh3Hn#LittleRocksTeam
— Little Rock Men’s Golf (@LittleRockMGOLF) October 4, 2022
The win is the second this season for Little Rock and the third victory in program history.
Cameron Jourdan covers college and amateur golf for Golfweek. Got a college or amateur story? Email him at cjourdan@golfweek.com.