Championship Central
INDIANAPOLIS – Maryville University captured its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Men’s Golf Championship on Tuesday, following a thrilling tiebreak win over the University of Indianapolis at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois.
The fourth-seeded Saints tied the defending GLVC Champion and second-seeded Greyhounds, 2.5-2.5, in the final round of the medal/match play format, and secured the win with a lower five-man total, 361-365, to earn the league’s automatic qualifying berth into NCAA Championship action.
Tuesday’s final battle, which marked 108 holes of golf played over four days, was a rematch of last year’s final in which top-seeded UIndy nearly swept the No. 2 seed Saints, 4.5-0.5.
The Greyhounds jumped out of the gate early in the finals as Spencer Klimek opened with a five-stroke advantage over Maryville’s Brad Karpick, 73-78, to give UIndy one point in the match play scoring format.
The Saints then responded with Joey Williams squaring the match with a 70-79 victory over UIndy’s Erik Edwards in the second group.
Oliver Mast, who finished second overall in the individual race after losing a playoff to Bellarmine University’s James Inman, lipped out a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to halve the match with Maryville’s Alex Locke, 72-72.
The Greyhounds responded to take the lead with Ian Carroll’s 3-under 69, which topped Maryville’s Keenan Fleming’s 71 by two strokes.
In the final match, Jake Newman birdie the first three holes and was in control of the anchor group the entire day, besting UIndy’s Cam Carroll, 70-72.
With both teams winning two matches and splitting the other, the title went to the Saints based on their four-shot advantage in total team strokes.
With the win, Maryville became just the second No. 4 seed to win the GLVC Championship since the advent of the medal/match play format in 2012. Bellarmine earned the GLVC title as the No. 4 seed in 2017. It is also the first time since 2012 that a tiebreaker has been used to determine the league champion.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the manner in which the Saints won the title, given they secured the No. 4 seed by just one shot following 54 holes of stroke play, and then stunned top-seeded University of Missouri-St. Louis in the same tiebreak fashion, 358-363, following a 2.5-2.5 tie with the Tritons.
UIndy just edged out No. 3 seed Bellarmine 3-2, despite holding a 32-shot stroke advantage in total team shots, 354-386. The Greyhounds finished the morning semifinal round with four players at par or better.
In the 20 rounds played in the semifinals, an impressive 11 scorecards came in at par or better, including three low rounds of 5-under-par 67, a pair of 68s, and five 70s.
For the players that played the full 36 holes on Tuesday, Maryville’s Flemming led the way at 6-under with rounds of 67 and 71, followed by UIndy’s Cam Carroll at 5-under 139 (67-72). Maryville’s Joey Williams and Jake Newman each carded a pair of 70s to shoot 4-under on the day, and were joined at 140 by UIndy’s Oliver Mast (68-72).
Under the direction of head coach Glenn Paulus, the 2018 GLVC Coach of the Year, the Saints’ league title marks the third overall GLVC Championship since becoming a member of the Conference, joining the feats of the 2011-12 women’s basketball team and 2018 men’s soccer squad.
Match Play Semifinals
No. 4 Maryville def. No. 1 Missouri-St. Louis, 2.5-2.5 (358-363 Tiebreak)
M1 – Miguel Maisterra, UMSL (74) def. Brad Karpick, MU (77)
M2 – Joel Sylven, UMSL (67) def. Jake Newman (70)
M3 – Joey Williams, MU (70) tied Reilly Ahearn, UMSL (70)
M4 – Alex Locke, MU (74) def. Juan Antonio Padilla, UMSL (82)
M5 – Keenan Flemming, MU (67) def. Chris Ferris, UMSL (70)
No. 2 Indianapolis def. No. 3 Bellarmine, 3-2
M1 – Billy Cason, BU (74) def. Spencer Klimek, UINDY (77)
M2 – Cam Carroll, UINDY (67) def. Seth Phulpagar, BU (89)
M3 – Spencer Hackert, BU (68) def. Erik Edwards, UINDY (70)
M4 – Ian Carroll, UINDY (72) def. Corey Teaford, BU (74)
M5 – Oliver Mast, UINDY (68) def. James Inman, BU (81)
Match Play Championship
No. 4 Maryville def. No. 2 Indianapolis, 2.5-2.5 (361-365 Tiebreak)
M1 – Spencer Klimek, UINDY (73) def. Brad Karpick, MU (78)
M2 – Joey Williams, MU (70) def. Erik Edwards, UINDY (79)
M3 – Alex Locke, MU (72) tied Oliver Mast, UINDY (72)
M4 – Ian Carroll, UINDY (69) def. Keenan Flemming, MU (71)
M5 – Jake Newman, MU (70) vs. Cam Carroll, UINDY (72)