LITTLE ROCK – A dominating final round propelled Little Rock to the 2020 Little Rock Invitational team title as the Trojans set a new program record with an 18-under 270 over the final 18 holes. The effort gave Little Rock a 17-stroke victory over rival Arkansas State, finishing the 54-hole event at 35-under 829, shattering both the program's single-round and 54-hole tournament records.
2020 Little Rock Invitational Final Results (PDF)
The 18-under 270 sets a new program record for low team round, besting the 272 set at the Rocky Mountain Men's Intercollegiate during the 1998-99 season. Little Rock's 829 over 54 holes also shatters the previous 54-hole tournament total of 840, set at the 2018-19 Sun Belt Conference Championship.
"I'm very proud of our team and the way we attacked the golf course over the final two rounds," said head coach
Jake Harrington. "We have the talent to post scores like this, and it was good to see them get confidence in each round. We had a different player post low scores each round, which speaks to the depth of the team we have. I'm very satisfied with how they played to end the fall season on a positive note."
Individually, Little Rock saw a number of personal-bests over the final 18 holes at Chenal Country Club. Playing in his 100th career round for the Trojans,
Logan Pate led the way with a 6-under 66, tied for the 10th lowest round in program history and tying his career-best, set at the Sun Belt Conference Championships in 2018. It was his 10th career round in the 60s, registering five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th.
Nico Horder set a career-best as well with a 5-under 67, finishing with five birdies and 13 pars on the day. He was one shot better than
Vid Potocar, who also notched a career-low round with a 4-under 68, finishing with three birdies and matching Pate with an eagle on 16.
Magnus Lomholt was the fourth Trojan to finish the day under par, setting a personal-best with a 3-under 69 after a solid final round consisting of 10 pars and six birdies. Lomholt was the top individual finisher for Little Rock at 6-under 210, tying for fourth overall among the 86-player field for his first career top-10 finish in a Trojan uniform.
Lomholt was one of four Trojans to finish among the top-20, followed by
Marcel Rauch, who tied for seventh with a 4-under 212. The effort was the first top-10 finish of Rauch's Little Rock career as he set a new 54-hole tournament career-best in the process.
The 66 from Pate propelled him to a tie for 10th at 3-under 213, marking the sixth top-10 finish of his Little Rock career. Pate finished one shot better than
Anton Albers, who carded a 2-under 214 to finish tied for 13th overall following a final round 76.
Potocar just missed his first career top-20 showing, tying for 24th at even-par 216, two shots better than Horder's 2-over 218 in a tie for 35th. Little Rock's individuals of
Ryan McNelis (11-over 227) and
Hunter Walker (19-over 235) tied for 64th and 79th, respectively.
Entering the day in second place six shots back of Arkansas State, Little Rock remained consistent throughout the day, finishing with a tournament-best 69 birdies with five eagles (second) and 195 pars (third). Albers and Lomholt tied for third on par-three scoring (1-under) while Rauch was tied for second on the par-fours (3-under) and Pate anchored the par-fives, tied for third at 8-under.
Thanks to a 5-over from the rival Red Wolves over the final 18 holes, Little Rock cruised to the 17-stroke victory to claim its ninth Little Rock Invitational title. UT Arlington (16-under 848) finished third, 19 shots back of the Trojans, with ULM (15-under 849) and Louisiana (12-under 852) rounding out the top-five.
The tournament title at Chenal Country Club closes the fall season for Little Rock, who finished the opening three tournaments of the year placing sixth at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and tying for third at the Scenic City Collegiate. Little Rock is scheduled to return to the course in February, competing at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, February 23-24.
2020 Little Rock Invitational Final Results
* - Program records
Players in italics competed as individuals
