*This story is updated with quotes from the Athletic Director and head Men's Golf coach.*
MESA, Ariz. – The Texas Wesleyan men's golf team held up the red banner today, winning the 2019 NAIA Men's Golf Championship by 11 shots at Las Sendas Golf Club's Hilly Desert Course on Friday.
The Rams reign again, taking the crown from the defending Oklahoma City Stars. Texas Wesleyan moves into second place in all-time national championship wins. Oklahoma City leads the NAIA with 11 victories.
"As I was thinking back over the years of making the tournament, I'm most proud of the fact of the span of time separating the wins," commented head coach
Bobby Cornett on the win. "29 years after winning the first one, we get one here after being really close so many times before." Cornett is referring to the dominance of 10 top 5 and 20 top 10 finishes from 1990 to 2019.
The literal road to get to the tournament was marred with obstacles. Cornett gave his account of the trip. "I'm even more proud of our guys for working through an exhausting trip just to make it in time for round 1. Our flight was cancelled to start things off. We finally get on a plane 24 hours later, but what was suppose a direct flight to Phoenix turned into a connecting flight to Flagstaff. In Flagstaff, we wait a few hours for the plane to Phoenix only to be told that there are only 50 or so seats and almost 80 people that need the flight. So we rent a van at midnight and drive two hours down from 6,900 feet through snow and sleet to the hotel in Phoenix. We get in bed about 2:30 am the day of round one. We missed the practice round and the coaches meeting."
Cornett had words of inspiration for his team despite the rough situation, "I told the guys that nothing worthwhile comes easy and we all kept focusing on that throughout the tournament. We tried to conserve as much energy as possible, we didn't hit any extra balls and kept our focus on the next round. We felt fortunate that when they counted them all up at the end, we were still on top. It certainly didn't feel like it for a long time in the final round."
The blazing Rams could not be caught as Coastal Georgia and the rest of the 17-team field had no chance to catching Texas Wesleyan. The Mariners finished the tournament in second, nine shots behind TXWES. The Stars finished the championship in third, led by Ty Stites, who finished in a share of sixth. Wayland Baptist ended the tourney in 11th.
Futa Yamagishi had the low round of the day for Texas Wesleyan, shooting and even par 71 and climbing 10 spots on the leaderboard to finish in a share of 26th. The senior from Tokyo, Japan played a spotless back nine and had just one blemish, a bogey on nine that he erased with a birdie on the 120-yard par three 7th. In total, he had 16 pars on the day.
Victor Miron shot 77 (+6) in the final round, but with two straight rounds under par it was still good enough to lead the team and an eighth place finish.
Tyron Davidowitz finished the tournament just outside the top 10 in a share for eleventh with a four-round total of 291.
Rowan Lester kept his nerve in an up-and-down round, posting a tournament total of 293, good for a share of the 14th spot. He helped his cause with five birdies.
"Our golf team has established a phenomenal record over a long period of time and this national championship just adds to the legacy of this program," said Athletic Director
Ricky Dotson. "I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of these guys. Bobby and Shaun have lead a special group of young men to the top of the mountain and The University couldn't be more excited."
Three players needed more than 72-holes to decide who would take home the individual championship, as Mark Johnson of Coastal Georgia took the first playoff hole to claim the title over Alec Dutkowski (Taylor) and Logan Carver (British Columbia).
The Rams finish the season with six wins. The 2019 title is the first national championship for the team since 1999 and marks program win number 223.
Davidowitz, Lester, and Miron (back row, third, sixth and seventh from left) were each named to the All-Tournament team.
Davidowitz (second from left) was also named PING First Team All-American
Bobby Cornett was named coach of the year, the fourth of his career. He also has coached the team to four national championships (1990, 1995, 1999, 2019). He now has now won the NAIA Men's Golf National Championship five times, winning a team title as a player in 1969.
Texas Wesleyan Results
Place Player Rd.1 Rd.2 Rd.3 Rd.4 Total
T8 Victor Miron 70 70 73 77 290
T11 Tyron Davidowitz 73 70 75 73 291
T14 Rowan Lester 75 70 71 77 293
T26 Futa Yamagishi 76 73 75 71 395
T48 Declan Kenny 75 75 79 75 304
1 Texas Wesleyan 293 283 294 296 1166
