First-time champions! After a first-place finish on day one, University of St. Thomas-Houston Men’s Golf held their place in the final round to win the program’s first SCAC golf title! In their fourth year competing in the conference, the Celts won the tournament by seven strokes.

Senior Jonathan Miller, in his last team tournament as a Celt, kicked into high gear for the final round. Miller fired a 71 (-1) on a scorecard that included four birdies and a whopping 11 pars to lock in second place. Senior Cade Kiser improved his previous round scores and carded a 73 (+1) with 13 pars and two birdies, good for sixth place. Kiser had a clutch birdie on hole 17 to help lock in the Celts' first-place finish. Patrick Smetek continued his stellar tournament and shared sixth place after he scored a 75 (+3) in the final round. Smetek tied with Miller for the team high of four birdies in the final round of action.

Newcomer Cameron Curtis made a splash in his first SCAC tournament after firing a final round of 75 (+3) to finish in ninth place. Curtis was consistent for St. Thomas, as his score included 11 pars and two birdies, and just one over par on the back half of the course. After carding an 81 in the opening round, Senior Henry Phavorachit showed poise in round three, finishing with a 78 (+6). Phavorachit’s scorecard included ten pars and two birdies that helped him stay competitive and keep St. Thomas near the top. Also competing, Jackson Murff improved his day one score by ten strokes to secure the victory. Murff carded a 78 (+6) in the final round and had nine pars and two birdies to help the Celts create separation from their SCAC foes.

With all scores combined, St. Thomas finished with a team score of 884 (+20) and won comfortably by seven strokes as host school Schreiner finished second with 891 (+27). Defending champion Southwestern University finished fourth place scoring 909 (+45) overall.

Notable Stats:

●      As a team, St. Thomas led the tournament with 46 total birdies

●      On par five holes, the Celts led the tournament with a scoring average of 4.93

●      Par three holes saw the Celts tie for first overall, shooting just 20 over as a team

●      Cameron Curtis on par three holes shot even throughout the entire tournament

●      Patrick Smetek led the whole tournament on par five holes shooting -6 total

●      Jonathan Miller finished first in birdies with 12 total

●      Cade Kiser finished fourth in pars with 36 total

With this victory, St. Thomas secures the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and will compete nationally against Division III schools for the title.

Up next, St. Thomas will await the NCAA Division III Golf Championships in May. The Celts will travel to Kentucky for the four-day tournament. Follow ustcelts.com for all updates.