The reigning Southland Conference champion Lions’ golf team was unable to repeat their success at the conference tournament last week, finishing in second place. The SLC tournament was held April 21-23 at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in Mckinny, Texas. Sam Houston State took home the title of champion after posting a team score of 878 over three rounds. Leading the way for the Lions was sophomore Eamon Bradley, who finished the tournament tied for fourth place with a score of 218.
Day one featured the Lions shoot 297, which landed them in the third behind Central Arkansas in second and Sam Houston State in first. Hammond native Grady Brame led Southeastern with his even par score of 72. Brame was one of three players from Southeastern who finished in the top 10 in round one. The Lions placed three players in the top 10 after the first day, one of which was Brame at fifth place. Bradley, at seventh and freshman Christopher Carstensen, at 10th rounded out the players in the top 10 for the Lions.
Southeastern stayed put in the standing after round two of the tournament after shooting a 10-over score of 298. Bradley shot the lowest score for the Lions on day two when he finished two-under par at 70. Brame followed up Bradley’s performance by shooting five-over par at 75 and finished tied for the 11th spot overall.
“He got off to an incredible start,” said Head Coach Tim Baldwin in an interview with lionsports.net. “He’s been an outstanding freshman for us and certainly a strong consideration for freshman of the year.”
The Lions wrapped the tournament up in grand fashion as the team shot the lowest team score of the entire tournament. Southeastern shot a one-over par 289 on the last day of the tournament to find themselves runners up to the SLC title. Two freshmen led the team in the final round of the tournament as Carstensen and Paul Obermann shot a two-under par 70 score.
It was a strong showing from the Lions as Bradley, Carstensen, Brame and Obermann all finished within the top-15.
“We had four guys in the top-six this week, and anytime you do that, you’re going to win a golf tournament,” said Baldwin.
Since they did not win the conference tournament, Southeastern must wait and see if they are chosen to play in the NCAA regionals. Winning the tournament would have been an automatic bid to the regionals, but the Lions still have a chance as one of the teams at large. The team is still practicing in case they get the chance to extend their season.
“I’ve been working a lot on my short game,” said Brame. “I feel like it has kind of let me down in the spring, so I am making sure that part of my game is sharp.”
Brame is not the only one to continue training. Sophomore Lawrence Allan hopes to bounce back from his performance at the SLC tournament and make a strong impact at regionals if chosen to play.
“I’m just working hard on my game and trying to improve on my putting,” said Allan.
Selections for the NCAA Regionals are to be aired May 5, on the Golf Channel.