Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Conference USA Championships
Barnard wins C-USA individual title as Blue Raiders tie for fifth
4/27/2022 3:43:00 PM | Men's Golf
TEXARKANA, Texas – Consistency gave Michael Barnard the Conference USA individual title. The redshirt junior carded identical scores of 70 (-2) in each of the three rounds of stroke play to finish at 210 (-6), edging out Florida Atlantic's Max Sturdza by one stroke.
"Congrats to Michael Barnard. What an accomplishment to be a conference champion – something like that looks great on your résumé," head coach Mark McEntire said. "I'm very, very proud of him, and he's very deserving."
Barnard is the first Blue Raider to win an individual conference title since Craig Smith was the Sun Belt Conference individual medalist in 2007. Barnard earned C-USA All-Tournament honors for his performance in Texarkana.
Michael Barnard is your Conference USA individual champion! #BlueRaiders | @m_barn2 pic.twitter.com/ZKYgIWxw73
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) April 27, 2022
As a team. Middle Tennessee gained two spots in Wednesday's third round, recording its best team round of the event at 289 (+1). On a sunny day with temperatures reaching the mid-70s, the Blue Raiders came as close as one stroke out of the top four and a berth in the match play portion of the tournament. However, MT ended in a three-way tie for fifth at 874 (+10), four strokes behind fourth-place Charlotte. The fifth-place finish officially snapped Middle Tennessee's streak of three consecutive conference championships.
"On the team front, we just gave too many shots away the first couple days," McEntire said. "We had a chance today and made some late bogeys, but overall, it was still a fantastic year for this team and this program. It looks like we need to start a new dynasty next year."
Barnard's 2-under performance led the Blue Raiders on Wednesday. He carded five birdies in the third round, bringing his three-round total to 14, tying with Sturdza for the most among the 68-player field. He finished the event 3-under on par 4 holes and 7-under on par 5s, the best scores in the field in both categories.
Nick Wolf finished in a tie for 13th individually at 217 (+1). His score of 74 (+2) Wednesday was the Blue Raiders' lowest non-counting score of the tournament.
Owen Stamper and Kevin Jegers finished in a tie for 46th at 153 (+9). Both Stamper and Jegers carded a 73 (+1) in the third round, the best score of the event for each. Jegers' six birdies were MT's most in the third round.
Substituted into the lineup for the third round, Gavin Clements made the most of his opportunity, carding a 73 (+1) to count toward Wednesday's team score. Clements bounced back from a 4-over performance over his first nine holes of the day to card four birdies on the front nine.
After a tournament-high 21 birdies Wednesday, MT finished with 49 during the stroke play portion of the tournament, the second-most among the 13-team field.
Florida Atlantic finished first at 859 (-5), earning the top seed in match play. No. 2 Southern Miss, No. 3 UTSA and No. 4 Charlotte round out Thursday's match play contestants.
Players Mentioned
