SANDESTIN, Fla. – Little Rock closes out the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship tied for sixth overall, finishing the 54-hole event at 12-under 840. The Trojans closed out their stay at Raven Golf Club with a 6-under 278 over the final 18 holes, matching its opening round total.
2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship Final Results (PDF)
Entering the day in fourth place, Little Rock was playing for a chance to advance to Wednesday's match play championship and compete for a Sun Belt title. Little Rock looked strong in the early going, at one point moving all the way into second place among the field, but struggles over the final five holes, coupled by surging performances from other schools, slipped the Trojans out of contention.
Little Rock's effort at the Sun Belt Championship was paced by sophomore
Aaron Ramos and junior
Logan Pate, both of which registered top-20 finishes. Ramos ended the event tied for seventh with a 7-under 206, tying his career low with a 3-under 68 over the final 18 holes. Ramos notched birdies on four of his first 12 hole and was tied for the individual lead on par-five holes, finishing at 7-under with a 4.42 average.
Pate posted the low round of the tournament for Little Rock with a 4-under 67, his lowest of the season and settling into a tie for 11th overall at 6-under 207. Like Ramos, Pate raced out to a fast start for the Trojans, registering birdies on holes two and three with an eagle on the par-five 11th, closing out the final round with 11 total pars.
Danial Durisic finished third on the Trojan scorecard with a 1-over 214, including a 1-under 70 in round three, tying for 27th overall. He finished one shot better than
Justin Warren, who closes out his Little Rock career with a 2-over 215, including a 2-over 73 over the final 18 holes to tie for 33rd.
Anton Albers rounds out the Little Rock competitors with a 10-over 223, finishing the final round at 3-over 74.
Little Rock closes out the final tournament of the season tied with South Alabama for sixth, three shots better than eighth-place Georgia State (9-under 843). The Trojans finished three shots out of tying for fourth with ULM and UT Arlington (15-under 837) as the Warhawks defeated the Mavericks in a tiebreaker to earn the final spot in the Sun Belt match play championship.
Georgia Southern finished the 54 hole stroke play tournament atop the team leaderboard at 31-under 821, four shots better than Coastal Carolina's 27-under 825. Arkansas State finished third with a 16-under 836, four shots better than the Trojans, as ULM joins the trio as the final four teams to advance to match play.
With the finish, Little Rock closes out its 2018-19 season with its best finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championship since finishing sixth in 2016 as the Trojans register top-10 team finishes in 10 of its 11 events on the year. Nearly the entire Little Rock roster returns next year, with the exception being Warren, who closes out his Trojan career with a 71.41 scoring average this season, ranking as the single-highest season scoring average in program history.
2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship Little Rock Results
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