Feb. 19, 2008
Results
HOUSTON, Texas - Holding a three-shot lead coming in to Tuesday's final round, the Baylor men's golf team carded a 297 to claim the team title at the Rice Intercollegiate presented by Srixon.
The Bears played with just four players on Tuesday after Colton Williams withdrew from the tournament due to the death of a close friend of the family. Williams was tied for the individual lead after 36 holes, and his withdrawal forced all four Baylor scores to count in the final round.
The tournament win is the second of the season for Baylor, as the Bears opened the fall with a team title at the Saint Mary's Invitational. The Bears have now finished in the top 10 in all six tournaments this season, and have recorded four top 5 finishes.
Though Memphis trailed the Bears by three shots heading into the third round, UC Davis roared back from a 10-shot deficit coming into the day to pull to within two shots. Amrith de Soysa of Louisiana Tech won individual medalist honors with a final score of 1-over par (74-71-72).
Baylor got solid play in all three rounds, as all four members of the lineup finished the tournament in the top 20 overall. Jeff Gerlich led the way for the Bears, finishing 4-over par in a tie for eighth place overall. After a 6-over par 78 in Monday's second round, Gerlich responded by carding a 2-under par 70 on Tuesday.
Wes Williams and Bill Allcorn tied for 12th overall at 5-over par after carding third-round scores of 76. Cody Paladino shot 75 on the final round to finish at 7-over par in a tie for 18th overall.
"I thought that our guys handled themselves well today," said head coach Greg Priest. "There was a little bit of pressure since all the scores were counting today, but we played well. Jeff played well to shoot 70, and I though that he had a solid tournament. Cody made a quadruple-bogey on the fifth hole, but he hung in there and really battled. Wes and Bill just had really solid days on Monday and Tuesday."
Baylor led the field in scoring on Par 3 holes at 9-over par and finished second to UC Davis at 25-over par on Par 4 holes. But the Bears did the most damage on Par 5's, finishing at 13-under par for the tournament. Second-place UC Davis and third-place Pacific shot 3-over par and 5-over par, respectively, for the tournament.
"I thought that the Par 5's played a little easier today," said Priest. "We made some good shots to get to the green in two. We took advantage of the Par 5's and that's what you have to do to win tournaments."
Baylor's opening round of 282 ties as the best start in tournament history, while Colton Williams first-round score of 67 was the second-best score in tournament history.
Baylor returns to action on Feb. 25-26 at the All-American Golf Classic in Spring, Texas.
