Webster Golf Finishes 17th In NCAA III National Championship
The Webster University golf team finished its most successful season in team history with a 17th place finish at the NCAA III Championships, on May 19 at the Mission Inn Resort & Club, in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL. The Gorloks shot a fourth round score of 318 to finish at 1256 for four rounds. Sophomore Will Murphy led Webster for the tournament, tying for 58th in a field of 215.
In its fifth trip to the Championships, Webster made the final cut to advance to rounds three and four, shooting 619 for the first two rounds. Only the top 18 teams in the field of 42 teams made the cut.
Will Murphy (SO, Staunton, IL/Mt. Olive) led the Gorloks for the third round in a row with a 78 in the fourth, and finished with a team-low 308 for the tournament. Zac Ciesla (FR, Lake Charles, LA/Alfed M. Barbe) and Jon Hughes (SR, Gardner, KS/Gardner Edgerton) both were second low for Webster at 79. Ciesla finished the tournament at 312, second to Murphy's 308. Full Webster results are below. For complete tournament results, click HERE.
| 17 | Webster | 304 | 315 | 319 | 318 | 1256 |
| T58 | Will Murphy (4) | 79 | 73 | 78 | 78 | 308 |
| T66 | Zac Ciesla (2) | 77 | 77 | 79 | 79 | 312 |
| T71 | Jon Hughes (1) | 72 | 80 | 83 | 79 | 314 |
| 94 | Matt Gordon (5) | 81 | 85 | 79 | 82 | 327 |
| 95 | Peter Conowall (3) | 76 | 86 | 83 | 83 | 328 |
The Gorloks won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, their seventh title, and Head coach Andrew Belsky, was named the SLIAC 2017 Coach of the Year. Ciesla, Murphy, and Matt Gordon (SR, St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) were all 2017 SLIAC First Team All-Conference, and Hughes and Peter Conowall (SO, Madison, WI/East) were Second Team All-Conference.
Hughes wound up the team leader in scoring average for the year at 75.60 per round, and Ciesla was second at 76.11. Hughes had the second highest season average for Webster in 2015-16 with a 57-14 scoring average.
In addition to the first place finish in the SLIAC, Webster had a second place finish at the Culver's Classic, a third place finish at the Pinecrest Collegiate and Gorlok Spring Invitational, and a fourth place finish at the Hopkins Golf Collegiate Classic.
The Gorloks say goodbye to seniors Gordon, Jay Hargis (Highland, IL/Highland), Hughes, and Justin Onken (SR, Easton, IL:/Illini Central), all finishing their golf careers at Webster.
STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
