By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Baylor men’s golf wrapped up the All-American Intercollegiate with an eighth-place finish, thanks to a 3-over 291 on Tuesday at The Golf Club of Houston.
Freshman Davis Ovard continued his strong play with a 2-under 70 in the closing round. Ovard finished in a tie for eighth individually, which marked his first top-10 finish as a part of the scoring lineup. Ovard has lowered his stroke average from 72.56 to 72.19 in his four events this spring.
Texas Tech jumped Sam Houston on the team leaderboard with a 7-over 871, which tied for the second-best round of the day. The Red Raiders’ hot finish led them to the team title.
Junior Zach Heffernan finished three shots shy of an individual trophy, as he carded three straight even-par 72s on the event. The second-place finish marked his first career top-five finish.
“We got off to a really rough start in round one but played solid in the last two rounds,” head coach Mike McGraw said. “I was happy for Davis Ovard to get his first top-10 finish as a member of our lineup. Zach Heffernan had his best-career finish over in the individual event, so there were some bright spots to take away from this week.”
Senior Luke Morgan tied for 12th place with a 9-over 225, which was just ahead of graduate student Luke Dossey’s 10-over 226. Dossey ended the tournament in a tie for 15th, while his brother, Sam Dossey, finished in 18th with a 12-over 228.
Ovard paced the final round with 12-straight pars before cracking into red figures with birdies at Nos. 2 and 4. Graduate student Johnny Keefer, who finished tied for 21st with a 4-over 220, opened Tuesday with three straight pars. He shrugged off a double bogey at No. 11 with a pair of birdies at Nos. 13 and 15, but he faced two more setbacks at Nos. 17 and 18.
Keefer capped off the back nine with a 1-under across the final seven holes to finish the day with a 1-over 73. He has still finished in the top-25 in all six stroke play events this season.
Senior Trey Bosco ended the event with a 1-over 73 to knot him in 40th. Bosco made the turn at even following a birdie at No. 13 and a bogey at No. 17. He tethered the line at even par until a final bogey at No. 7 dropped him to 1-over for the day.
Graduate student Tyler Isenhart matched Bosco in the tie for 40th, as he put together a 3-over 75 on Tuesday. Isenhart went 2-under par with a couple of birdies at Nos. 12 and 13, but back-to-back bogeys at the next two holes put him back at even par. He teased a red-figure finish with a birdie at No. 2 but closed his day with bogeys at Nos. 4 and 7, which sandwiched a double bogey at No. 5.
Sophomore Jonas Appel closed the event with a 4-over 76 to tie for 75th. Appel tapped in a birdie at No. 11 before wrapping up the opening nine with bogeys at Nos. 13 and 18. His last bogey came at No. 8 to finish the week 14-over 230.
The Bears get back on the course with the Aggie Invitational, which is scheduled for April 6-7 at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan.
