Men’s and women’s golf advance to regional tournament

Women’s golf won the conference championship.

Women’s golf won the conference championship.

St. Edward’s University women’s and men’s golf teams hosted the Heartland Conference Tournament and placed first and third at the tournament, respectively, both advancing to regional tournaments. Golfers and coaches from St. Edward’s were honored with awards, as voted by the coaches in the Heartland Conference.

Men’s Golf

Men’s golf placed third at the 2011 Heartland Conference Tournament, held April 18-19 at the Teravista Golf Club in Round Rock, Texas.

The men’s golf team shot 884, with 282 in the first round, 307 in the second round and 295 in the third round — 14 strokes behind first-place team Newman University.

Senior Matthew Henson shot a one-over 73 in the final round, placing 10th. Junior Santiago Quintero and senior Mitch Cahill tied for 11th, and each shot 222. Senior Dylan Davis placed 14th, and senior Matt Rogers placed 15th.

Rogers was selected for the Heartland Conference All-Conference First Team, and Quintero and Cahill were named Second Team. Head Coach Todd Ohlmeyer was honored as Coach of the Year.

The team was selected to play in the 2011 NCAA South Central/Midwest Super Regional May 2–4. Men’s golf shot 297 in the opening round on Monday and are in 11th place as of press time. The tournament, hosted by Newman in Gergetown, Kan., concludes today.

Women’s Golf

The women’s golf team won its fifth consecutive Heartland Conference Championship on April 19 in Round Rock. Sophomore Melisa Gonzales placed first at the tournament after a playoff against Linzi Allan from Newman University.

“A playoff is when two players tie for the first place [they shot the same score] so these two players have to play one more hole and see who gets the lowest score,” Gonzales said.

Four out of five competing St. Edward’s golfers were selected for the 2010-2011 Heartland Conference All-Conference First Team, including Jacy Benites, Melisa Gonzales, Ryanne Haddow and Wallis Spears. Six-time Heartland Conference Golfer of the Week, Spears, was named the Heartland Conference Player of the Year. Head Coach Jennifer McNeil was named the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year.

Women’s golf advanced to the NCAA West Regionals in Amarillo, Texas, on May 1–3. The team shot 318 in the opening round on Sunday and 309 in round two Monday afternoon to slide into third place. Results for the third round were not available by press time.