Final Results
The Malone University men's golf team, led by veteran head coach Ken Hyland, earned a fourth-place finish among a 29-team field at the 2011 NAIA National Championships, which concluded on Friday at the par-71 TPC Deere Run Golf Course in Silvis, Illinois. In addition, the Pioneers' Justin Lower, who was last year's NAIA individual national champion, placed third overall at the event.
Malone, which was ranked sixth in the final NAIA national ratings, posted a tournament-best score of 287 on the final day to dramatically improve upon its ninth-place position after day three. With a final four-round total of 1182 (293-302-300-287), Malone earned the fourth-place finish at +46, which was just one stroke behind third-place finisher South Carolina-Beaufort's +45. Oklahoma Christian University won the team title with a score of 1150 (281-293-283-293), which was +14, and defeated runner-up British Columbia (CAN) University, which finished at +36, by 22 strokes. Lewis-Clark State (ID) University rounded out the top five with a score of 1183 (+47), one shot behind the Pioneers.
Attempting to defend his NAIA individual national title of a year ago,
Justin Lower came up just short in his bid, finishing in third place overall among approximately 150 golfers who began the tournament, with a two-over-par total score of 286 (74-71-72-69). His final round score of 69 was the second-best of the day to conclude the tournament.
Lower finished just one stroke behind runner-up finisher Axel Ochoa (of OCU) who tallied a score of 285. OCU's Oscar Stark won the individual national title at 280 (67-70-70-73), six shots in front of Lower. By finishing in the top 16, Lower was automatically named to the All-Tournament Team. Although this year's NAIA All-Americans have not been officially announced yet, Lower is virtually assured of garnering his fourth consecutive NAIA All-America accolade, making him the first Pioneer golfer to accomplish the monumental feat.
Lower's accomplishments led the charge for Malone but it was the solid play of the remaining Pioneers that allowed the team to capture yet another tremendous finish at the NAIA national event.
Richie Schembechler finished second for Malone and 23
rd overall with a +13 score of 297 (74-77-71-75) while
Tyler Light was one shot behind (tied for 24
th) with a +14 tally of 298 (70-78-78-72).
Jon Clark carded a 303 (77-76-79-71) and
Quinn Parker posted a 322 (75-84-85-78).
