Shreveport - The Centenary men's golf team has been selected as Centenary Athletics' "Team of the Week" after the Gents finished sixth in their season-opening event, the UMHB Men's Invitational, highlighted by senior Andrew Bennett (Bossier City, La.) claiming his first-career individual title.
Bennett fired an 11-under par 129 to win by two shots at the event hosted by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at Sammons Park Golf Course in Temple, Texas last Tuesday. The Maroon and White shot an 11-over par 571 for the event, shooting a 4-over par 284 in Monday's first round to finish the day in a three-way tie for third place and followed that with a 7-over par 287 in Tuesday's final round at the par 70, 6,597-yard course.
Bennett finished two shots ahead of Trinity's Jacob Mason (9-under par 131) as he becomes the first Gent to win an individual title since Richard Polan at the 2022 Rhodes Spring Classic. The Gents finished five shots ahead of seventh-place East Texas Baptist University (16-over 576) and seven ahead of University of St. Thomas (18-over par 578). Belhaven University finished ninth (22-over 582), McMurry University placed 10th (27-over 587), Howard Payne University finished 11th (47-over 607) and Arlington Baptist University was 12th at 93-over 653.
Bennett's 6-under par 64 in the first round marked the lowest round by a Centenary men's golfer in the division III era (2011-present) and he followed that up with a 5-under 65 in Tuesday’s final round, highlighted by consecutive birdies to cap his winning round.
Bennett now adds an elusive individual victory to his impressive resume as he now has one runner-up, three top five finishes, and seven top-10 finishes in his career. He finished in a three-way tie for sixth at 6-over par 222 at the conference championships last season to earn Second-Team All-SCAC honors. He was appropriately named the SCAC Men's Golfer-of-the-Week one day after his win.
Freshman Aubrey Snell (Shreveport, La.) had a superb collegiate debut as he fired a 5-under par 135 to finish in a tie for fourth place. The rookie Snell shot a 2-under 68 in Monday's first round and followed that with a 3-under 67 in the final round. Junior Tyler Jones (Stonewall, La.) shot his second-consecutive 6-over par 76 to tie for 49th place. The 76's are the lowest scores of his career.
Sophomore Jeffrey Borchert (Katy, Texas) finished in a tie for 60th after a 10-over par 80 on Tuesday preceded by a 6-over par 76 on Monday. Senior Devan Martin (Watson, La.) did not play on Monday but returned on Tuesday and shot a 15-over par 85 but did not record a finish.
Bennett fell two strokes back of Mason through 13 holes, but finished strong as he birdied three of his final four holes, including two in a row to finish his round. Mason birdied his 11th and 12th holes but then finished 1-over par over the final six holes.
Centenary wraps up its fall season in the UHV Fall Classic hosted by University of Houston-Victoria Oct. 16-17 in Victoria, Texas.
See the Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mgolf/2023-24/schedule
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