Temple, Texas - The Centenary men's golf team finished 11th in the Mary Hardin-Baylor Fall Intercollegiate after shaving 16 strokes off of its first-round score at Sammons Park Golf Club.
The Gents, who shot a 28-over par 308 on Monday in their initial round of the season, turned in a 12-over 292 on Tuesday to finish at 40-over par 600 for the tournament. East Texas Baptist University overcame a one-shot deficit after the opening round to win the team title as the Tigers fired a 1-under par 279 to finish at 4-under par 556 for the week.
The University of Texas at Dallas, the day one leader, finished second at 1-over par 561. The host Mary Hardin-Baylor's "B" team placed third at 3-over par 563.
LeTourneau finished fourth (+6 – 566), MHB's "A" team finished fifth (+14 – 574), Trinity finished sixth (+19 – 579), Concordia (TX) finished seventh (+20 – 580), Howard Payne finished eighth at +28 – 588, and McMurry and Concordia's "B" team tied for ninth place at 36-over par 596, four shots ahead of the Gents.
Freshman Jeffrey Borchert (Katy, Texas) fired an even-par 70 in Tuesday's final round to earn the top individual finish for the Gents as he tied for 25th place. The rookie was tied for 44th place after shooting a 6-over par 76 in his collegiate debut on Monday.
Junior Ricky Blair (Bossier City, La.) fired a career-low 69 to tie junior Andrew Bennett (Bossier City, La.) for 29th place. Bennett, who shot a 3-over 73 on Monday, shot a 4-over par 74 in Tuesday's final round. Blair lowered his score by nine shots from Monday's 78 and earned his eighth-career top-30 finish.
Freshman Colton Mayer (Heath, Texas) shot a 20-over par 260 to tie for 67th place, senior Devan Martin (Watson, La.) shot seven strokes lower (10-over par 80) in the final round to finish in a tie for 71st, and sophomore Tyler Jones (Stonewall, La.) tied Martin for 71st after shooting one stroke lower (13-over 83) than he did on Monday. Five of six Gents shot a lower second-round score and Bennett was the only one who did not and he only did so by one stroke, showing the team improvement for the Maroon and White in just one day.
Tyler Durden of UT-Dallas won the individual title in a playoff after finishing in a three-way tie for first place (3-under par 137) with Howard Payne's Kyle Anderson and ETBU's Kip Childress. Anderson's 66 on Tuesday was the lowest score shot all tournament. Childress shot a 2-under 68 on Tuesday while Durden turned in an even-par 70 after a 3-under 67 on Monday. Blair was one of just 10 golfers to shoot under par in Tuesday's final round.
Centenary will now face Hendrix and Millsaps in a tri-match on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi, La. and then the Gents wrap up their fall season in the Crusader Invitational Oct. 24-25 hosted by the University of Dallas at the WinStar Golf Club in Thackerville, Okla.
See the Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mgolf/2022-23/schedule
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