Webster Rolls To 2018 SLIAC Men's Golf Title
From the first tee shot of the tournament to the final putt, Webster University was in control of the 2018 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Golf Tournament. Zac Ciesla started the tournament off with a tee shot and by the time his teammate Cole Pickett turned in his card for the final round the Gorloks had secured their 8th tournament title in program history. Webster led the seven-team field with a first round 302 and battling rainy and windy conditions on the first day opened up their lead with a 306 in the second round. The Gorloks led by 13 strokes after day one and closed out the tournament with a 291 in the third round for a team score of 899.
The Gorloks had two golfers in the top four of the field and four in the top 10. Leading the way was freshman Will Hocker. Hocker shot a 74 in the opening round, sitting in a tie for second place after the first 18 holes. His teammate Brian Morris held the round one lead after a 71 while fellow Gorloks Will Murphy and Zac Ciesla both carded in the 70s for the round. Hocker began to make his move on the second 18 holes of the tournament, shooting a 73 and moving into the first place on the leaderboard. As he became more familiar with the course Hocker's scores continued to drop. He carded a 69 in the third and final round, tied for the lowest score of the tournament. He opened up his third round by hitting a pair of birdies in his first four holes and played an even par on the back nine, which included the three toughest holes during tournament play.
Hocker takes home the SLIAC individual champion title, edging out last year's champion, Iowa Wesleyan's Kiley Miler, by four strokes. He also received the 2018 SLIAC Men's Golf Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year awards. He becomes the first player in the conference to win both awards in the same season since Kaleb Kessler did so for Webster in 2011.
After finishing in 3rd place their previous four years since joining the league the Iowa Wesleyan team had their highest finish at the conference tournament, taking 2nd place with a team score of 916. They carded a 295 in the third and final round, their lowest round in conference tournament history. Paired with eventual tournament champion, the Tigers' Kiley Miller put together an impressive third round 69, to finish at second overall with a 220 for the tournament. Blake Forsythe finished 8th with a 230 after dropping his score by 11 strokes from the opening round. Brock Butler was the third Tiger to earn a top ten finish, tying for 9th place with a 235.
Blackburn College finished in 3rd place this year with a 938. The Beavers had three players place in the top ten with Kyle Kesinger leading the way with his 5th place showing. Kesinger, battling a wrist injury, finished with a 228 and a low of 71 in the second round. Trenton Easley finished 7th overall with a 231 while teammate Jordan McMillen was just behind with a 232.
Finishing in 4th place was Fontbonne University with a 966, going 321-324-311 in their three rounds. Matt Rapasardo led the Griffins with a 235, tying for 9th place overall while Will Pruden tied for 13th place with a 236.
MacMurray College took 5th place with a 972, finishing with their best round (321) of the tournament. Noah Jeckel led the way for the Highlanders, finishing in 15th place, with a 240; putting up back to back 78's to start the tournament.
Westminster College took 6th place with a 1023 with Blue Jays Austin Kuss and Tanner Touslee tying for 18th place with identical scores of 247.
Eureka College finished in 7th place with a 1385, equalling their score from a year ago. The Red Devils were led by Drew Barth, who finished with a 288 including a team-low 91 in the second round of the tournament.
Spalding University was represented by Garrett Nielsen, who took 3rd place overall. Nielsen shot a 78 in the opening round before carding a second-round low for the tournament of 70 and then closing out his card with a 73 for a three-round score of 221.
For a complete list of the 2018 SLIAC Men's Golf All-Conference Team and Awards click HERE
