Chapman Again Leads, SU Finishes 11th at UMHB Fall Invitational

Photo:  Jay Chapman continued his strong fall with a 4th place finish at UMHB
 

Junior Jay Chapman continued his hot fall season by shooting a pair of 72's and finishing fourth individually while leading Schreiner Men's Golf to an 11th place finish at the UMHB Fall Invitational.  There were 17 teams in the field.  Nearly half of the teams in front of SU were scholarship programs, either NCAA Division II, junior colleges or NAIA teams.  Of the other five teams in front of SU, four are ranked in the NCAA Division III top 30.  The Mountaineers finished fourth out of the eight ASC teams in the field by shooting 312-307 around a Mill Creek CC course that was under water in many places just three weeks ago.  For that reason, the course layout played for the tournament had to be rerouted to incorporate parts of the property's three 9-hole layouts.  Still, Chapman thrived in the situation and was the top finisher among all D-III players.  This was his top performance in his personal career. 

Schreiner was playing two freshmen in their first collegiate tournament and both showed signs of being strong performers in the future.  Andy Bell had one rough nine-hole stretch on Monday which cost him in the first round.  After turning at +1 on his opening nine, he struggled and shot 80 in the first round.  He bounced back to shoot 77 the second day to finish 51st in the very strong field.  He tied with senior Kyle Grona at that score after Grona opened with a 78.  His second-day 79 ended unfortunately as he was +5 on the tee of the final hole.  His drive down the fairway hit the top of a strangely placed tree in the middle and was lost, leading to a triple-bogey finish.  Sophomore Jared Cornish shot 82-80 and finished 72nd.  The other freshmen, Kelby Ruiz, opened with an 85.  He was also at +5 on the final tee in the second round but suffered a similar score to Grona to also finish at 79.  He finished 77th overall.

Chapman's scores were the best for an SU golfer since the fall of 2006.  His top four finish is the best since Grona finished 4th individually at the 2008 LeTourneau Spring Invitational.

SU will host their next event October 19-20th at the Scott Schreiner Golf Course in Kerrville.