Youngstown State University
Horizon League Championships
YSU Has Best HL Team Finish Since 2006; Three Place in Top Nine
4/26/2022 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Youngstown State men's golf team finished second at the Horizon League Championships at Mission Inn Resort's El Campeon course in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla., which concluded on Tuesday.
The Penguins finished behind pre-tournament favorite Wright State by 10 shots and were five ahead of Oakland who placed third. The second-place finish ties for the best performance in school history which came back in 2006.
YSU entered the day trailing the Raiders by seven shots and were on their heels all day, but couldn't match WSU's firepower. The Raiders had just five bogeys on the back nine as an entire team to clinch the title.
The Penguins proved to be worthy challengers throughout the entire three-day event.
YSU finished with a three-round total of 861 while Wright State finished with an 851. Oakland placed third with a 866 while Cleveland State was fourth back at 892. YSU's 861 is the lowest three-round performance at the Horizon League Championships in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 863 that was set in 2006.
The Guins placed three golfers in top nine and all five finished in the top 17.
Cole Christman was the top finisher coming in fourth with a three-round total of 212. Christman had a final round 71 (one-under par) to go with rounds of 72 and 69. The junior's final round included nine pars, birdies at No. 5, No. 9, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 16. He was even-par 35 on the front nine and rebounded nicely after making bogeys on two of the first five holes. The fourth-place finish at the conference meet is the best for a Penguin since Michael Lower in 2011 (also fourth).
Ken Keller showed resilience following a rocky start on Tuesday to finish in a tie for sixth place. Keller finished with a 78 following rounds of 66 and 72 to start play. His final round opened with five bogeys and a double bogey, but on the final 11 holes he was one-under par. His round featured consecutive birdies at No. 12, No. 13 and No. 14 before he pared two straight holes. On his final seven holes, he was two under.
Kevin Scherr jumped up seven spots on the leaderboard with a final round two-under-par 70, his best of the tournament. The senior's final round saw him birdie two of the first three holes before parring the eight. He then had a birdie at No. 12 and at No. 14 to get to three under par. He added another birdie at No. 17 to finish with five birdies on the day.
Zack Ford and Bryan Kordupel finished in a tie for 17th place with scores of 222.
Kordupel moved up two spots with a final round score of 72. The senior's round started off strong as he birdied No. 1 and later add another at No. 9. His final nine featured birdies at No. 10, No. 14 and No. 15 as he finished even-par for the day. Kordupel's round also had eight pars.
Ford added a counted round 74 to the team score card on Tuesday after rounds of 75 and 73. He was two-over par through eight before his first birdie of the day at nine. He later added birdies at No. 10, No. 12 and No. 14. His final round featured eight pars.
