CU Golf takes 15th at Nationals
ALLENDALE, Michigan (May 25) – For the second straight year, the Cameron Aggie men’s golf team participated in the NCAA Division II National Championship against the most elite squads in the country. This year’s tournament was held at The Meadows Golf Club in Allendale, Michigan. Cameron finished the four-round event in 15th place out of 20 total teams. Their team total of 1227 (+91, 298-312-309-308) was forty-one strokes behind eventual champion Barry University who recorded an 1186 (+50, 289-297-304-296).
The Aggies qualified for the event after taking first-place at the NCAA Division II South/South Central Super Regional golf tournament in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in early May. CU qualified for that event after a strong regular season and 6th place finish at the Lone Star Conference Championship tournament.
In Allendale the Aggies climbed all the way to 2nd place at one time, but just couldn’t hold on. The team was in 6th place after the first round, but fell to 14th place after both the second and third rounds.
Horrendous winds and difficult putting conditions played a huge role in Cameron’s play. The wind made it nearly impossible to hit anything straight and the greens played incredibly fast.
Junior Cane Shumaker had the best finish for Cameron, finishing in a tie for 34th place overall. A total of 105 golfers competed in the event. Shumaker recorded a +18 (73-80-74-75) for the tournament.
Cameron’s best player, senior Matt Trammell, was able to fight back into a tie for 41st place after a rough start to the tournament. He finished the event with a score of +20 (78-75-75-76).
Shumaker and Trammell were the only Aggie golfers to finish in the top 50 overall.
Sophomore Peter Svajlen finished the event in a tie for 80th place. He recorded a four-round score of +30 (73-79-82-80).
Freshman Michael Lee, a major reason the Aggie were able to advance past the Super Regional tournament, started the National Championship event on fire but was unable to hold on. He finished the tournament with a final score of +31 (74-80-78-83).
The final Aggie to compete in the event was freshman Brett Leavell. He finished in a tie for 91st place. He was just one of two Cameron golfers to finish the tournament better than they started. His final score was +36 (82-78-83-77).
As mentioned previously, Barry University won the team championship with a final score of +50 (289-297-304-296). Christian Reis of Columbus State University won the individual title after recording a +1 (73-71-70-71) for the tournament.
The Cameron men’s golf team will now enter the offseason portion of their schedule like the nine other Aggie athletic programs. CU begins the 2007-2008 season next September with the Coody/West Texas A&M Intercollegiate tournament.
Click HERE for final team and individual scores from the national tournament.
