The weather was near perfect for golfers as the Missouri Southern State University’s Men’s Fall Invite wrapped up Tuesday with the third round of play for 12 teams at Twin Hills.
It was the final event of the fall season for MSSU.
Arkansas Tech University claimed the team title with a 24 under. Henderson State University (5 under) was second, Northwest Oklahoma State University (4 under) was third and MSSU (5 over) was fourth.
“Today was great. Today was a great comeback round for us,” MSSU head coach Taylor Griffith said. “My seniors (Max Templeman, Britten Coy and Zach Gardner) really stepped up to the plate. My two freshmen (Jones Vrska and Ethan Small) in my top five battled a little bit today, but that’s okay. It’s a great learning experience for them. Overall, I’m very pleased with how we played today.”
Arkansas Tech’s Cameron Twynholm claimed the individual title with a 15 under.
Carthage High School product Max Templeman led the Lions with a 1-under 215 after the third and final round Tuesday and finished tied for ninth with two others in the field of 69 golfers.
During Monday’s opening round, Templeman struggled a bit and finished with a 3-over 75.
Templeman recovered during Monday’s second round and carded a 1-under 71 and shot his best round, a 3-under 69 in the final round Tuesday.
He recorded birdies on holes three, six, eight, 13, 14 and 16, but bogeyed on No. 1 and double-bogeyed No. 11.
Vrska finished Round 1 on Monday just one stroke back of the leader, with a 5-under 67, but struggled in his second round with a 73 and on Tuesday shot a 4-over 76 to fall into 12th place after the final round.
Jones carded one birdie and five bogeys Tuesday, including two bogeys on the front nine and three on the back nine.
Gardner and Coy finished tied for 18th with four other golfers at 5 over.
Gardner fired a 76 Monday in the opening round, finished with par for the second round and shot 1 over for Tuesday’s final round.
Coy had a difficult Monday, carding a 5-over 77 in Round 1 and a 74 in Round 2, but shot 2 under Tuesday to finish at 5-over.
Small shot 7-over and finished tied for 28th with three others. He had his worst round in the opener Monday, with a 5 over 77. He shot 1 over for Monday’s Round 2 and also finished at 73 Tuesday.
Owen Derryberry shot par in the opening round but was 5 over in Monday’s second round and 3 over Tuesday to finish tied for 32nd with two others at 8 over.
The tourney was the last of the fall season for the Lions. They return to action Feb. 7-9 for the Southern Nazarene University Houston Classic in Houston.