Men's Golf places 17th at Ka'anapali Classic

Sunday, November 3

Lahaina, Maui, HI

Southern Illinois University

Ka'anapali Classic Invitational

11/03/2019 | 8:55:00 | Men's Golf

Final Results

By: By Alex Underwood, SIUSalukis.com

LAHAINA, HI — The Southern Illinois men's golf program finished in 17th place at the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational on Sunday at the Ka'anapali Golf Club. Oklahoma claimed the tournament title at 47-under par.

"We struggled this week and were very inconsistent across the board," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "We haven't done a good job when adversity hits us during the round. We had too many mental lapses and unforced errors this week and it cost us several spots on the leaderboard."

SIU carded 285 (+1) on Day Three for a three-round total of 846 (+12). Southern stayed put in the team standings at 17th overall, despite a 12-stroke improvement from round two to round three. The Salukis managed to finish ahead of Hawaii (+18), Connecticut (+22), and George Washington (+30).

"I am proud of the way we responded after a tough start in the final round," Fetcho expressed. "We have to figure out how we can continue to build off what we did today. We had some guys that fought all the way to the end, which we didn't have in the second round. I am also pleased with Birgir (Magnusson), Frankie (Thomas), and Matthis (Besard) for getting a par or better round today after a tough start."

Matthis Besard led the Salukis in the individual standings at 1-under par, as he tied for 53rd out of 117 golfers. In round three, the sophomore shot even-par (71), which was third-best to Birgir Magnusson (-2) and Frankie Thomas (-1) on the day. Besard also finished the tournament with the fourth-lowest stroke average on par-five holes (4.00).

Freshman Andrew Thornton shot 2-over par in round three to finish the tournament at 1-over par and tied for 61st overall. The Kinross, Scotland native had a team-best 15 birdies in the tournament and five on the final 18 holes.

The Ka'anapali Classic marks the conclusion of SIU's fall season. Fetcho and company will begin spring competition in Tallahassee, Fla. at the Seminole Intercollegiate from Feb. 22-23.

"We have a lot of work to do this offseason to continue to grow and mature both individually and as a team," Fetcho said. "We play really good stretches of holes for long periods of time, but we'll need more fight and discipline when things get tough come springtime."

For the latest updates on the Saluki golf program, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram @SIU_MGolf and on Facebook at Saluki Men's Golf.

TEAM SCORES

1. Oklahoma 268-274-263 (805, -47)
2. Washington 274-267-269 (810, -42)
3. UCLA 269-274-274 (817, -35)
4. Georgia 277-275-267 (819, -33)
5. South Carolina 277-269-274 (820, -32)
6. Liberty 272-272-279 (823, -29)
7. West Virginia 273-273-280 (826, -26)
8. Kansas 268-280-279 (827, -25)
9. Clemson 275-282-272 (829, -23)
10. Boise State 275-275-285 (835, -17)
11. Wyoming, U. of 288-279-279 (846, -6)
12. Sacramento State 286-276-288 (850, -2)
13. North Texas 290-291-273 (854, +2)
14. UC Santa Barbara 281-292-282 (855, +3)
15. Gonzaga 289-281-286 (856, +4)
16. Air Force 280-292-290 (862, +10)
17. Southern Illinois 282-297-285 (864, +12)
18. Hawaii 282-291-297 (870, +18)
19. Connecticut 292-287-295 (874, +22)
20. George Washington University 295-289-298 (882, +30)

INDIVIDUAL SCORES