PHOENIX, Ariz. – Winning the Frontier Conference Championship for the second year in a row, No. 9 ranked Rocky Mountain College is once again heading to the NAIA's national tournament.
Heading into the third round with a two stroke lead over Montana Tech, the Battlin' Bears shot 294, six strokes better than the Orediggers' 300, to increase their lead to eight. The team left Phoenix shooting 903 and carding 156 pars with 34 birdies. Rocky led the other five teams at par-4 scoring with a 4.22 scoring average. They finished second in par-3 scoring behind Providence and second in par-5 scoring behind Montana Tech.
The only golfer to finish the tournament under par, Montana Tech's Sean Benson secured individual medalist honors having shot four-under-par 212.
Rocky's
Reece Nilsen finished second. His third round of 69 was the lowest of the tournament. Carding four birdies on the day, he jumped ahead of Providence's Jonny Cielak, but was unable to catch Benson who had already built too great of a lead. Nilsen ended the tournament having shot two-over-par 218 and carding 33 pars with 10 birdies. The sophomore's 3.08 scoring in par-3 scoring was the best of the tournament and he finished with a second best 5-under on par-5 holes.
Michael Tait joined Nilsen on the All-Tournament team after finishing in fourth with 226. Shooting the first two rounds at 76, the senior improved to 74 in the final day. He shot 34 pars and six birdies.
Sitting in 11th on Tuesday,
Colton Murphy's third round of 74 bumped him up to a seventh place finish on a total of 230. The senior carded 31 pars and six birdies.
HoTae Kim placed in eighth with 231 with 27 pars and seven birdies. Finishing in 13th,
Mitchell Thiessen shot 234 with 31 pars and five birdies. Both Kim and Thiessen shot 6-over on par-4 holes.
With the conference championship win, the team has earned an automatic berth in the 2019 NAIA Men's Golf National Championship. This will be second trip in a row to nationals for these five golfers. A historic feat that no other men's team in the history of Rocky Mountain College has been able to accomplish.
The NAIA Men's Golf National Championship will take place May 21-24 at Las Sendas Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.
