LAFAYETTE, La. – The Little Rock men's golf team closed out a strong showing Tuesday with a second-place finish at the Louisiana Classics at Oakbourne Country Club.
The Trojans finished the 54-hole tournament at 17-under par, posting rounds of 8-under, 7-under, and 2-under. Little Rock finished behind No. 29 Texas A&M, which captured the team title at 24-under. Middle Tennessee (-16) finished third, followed by East Tennessee State (-14) and Michigan (-13).
"This wasn't our best stuff this week, but we did an excellent job of grinding out rounds and getting the most out of what we had to finish in second place," Trojans head coach
Austin Eoff said. "We also did a great job finishing on holes 8 and 9 today at the end of the round in the wind on two of the hardest holes on the golf course. We were the only team that finished on holes 8 and 9 to play them at even par today. For the week, we led the field in par-3 scoring by nine shots at 8-under par. We also tied for first in birdies made and just need to clean up the easy bogeys we made this week."
Ed Featherstone led the Trojans with an outstanding final round, firing a five-under 67 to finish the tournament at 9-under par, placing him third overall on the individual leaderboard. Featherstone's round was highlighted by a blistering 33 on the front nine, helping power Little Rock's push during the final round.
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Ed Featherstone made quite a charge over the last two rounds to finish in third place for the event," Eoff said. "The growth he has shown over the past 12 months has been great to see, along with his openness to improve and try new things to continue fine-tuning his game. It was great to see him play well again this week even without his 'A' game."
Elliott Simonsen, who led the Trojans after the first two rounds, finished the tournament at 4-under and placed 15th overall.
"It's a shame how Elliott ended his round today, but he made great strides this week for his lowest career finish in college at 4-under and tied for 15th," Eoff said. "He put on a ball-striking clinic this week and knows he needs to work on the flat stick before next week. He has worked hard these last four months, so it's nice to see him get some reward for that."
Rhett South and
Viggo Talasmaki each finished the event at even par, tying for 40th place, while
Mark Stockdalefinished 2-over for the tournament.
Alexander Rowland, competing as an individual, carded a 76 in the final round to finish 9-over.
The Trojans' runner-up finish capped a strong week against a competitive field that included several nationally ranked programs.
Little Rock will be back in action Sunday at the Michael A. Marino Classic at Myrtle 'Beach, S.C.
"We head back home tonight before leaving for Myrtle Beach on Friday," Eoff said. "We have to continue working on improving our confidence on and around the greens before next week. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club is a great course and will be another good test for us."
