SMU
National Invitational Tournament
Sambol, Mustangs Take Third At NIT
Mar 17 | Men's Golf
March 17, 2012
TUCSON, Ariz. (SMU) - The No. 33 SMU men's golf team added another top five result to its season today, claiming third-place honors with a 1-under par at the National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course. The Mustangs finished the tournament with a 287, the lowest score of the final round. San Diego State claimed the team title at 5-under par.
"It was great to be in contention again," said SMU head coach Josh Gregory. "Anytime you have a chance to win with three holes to play, that's a great feeling. Our only losses were to San Diego State and UNLV, two of the top teams in the country. We gave away eight shots on the last three holes last night which cost us, but I'm so proud of the guys for rebounding today with the low round of the day. That is a huge step for this team."
Leading the Mustangs throughout the weekend was senior Marc Sambol, who earned his first top-three finish of the season, tying for third place at 2-under, 214. The finish marked the second time this season that a Mustang has claimed third place.
With three birdies on the day to finish the round at 1-under, senior Max Buckley notched his second top-10 finish of the season, tying for eighth at even par. Joining Buckley with 71's in the final round were Harry Higgs and Matt Schovee who finished for the 12th and 16th, respectively. Sam Fidone was five strokes behind Schovee at 7-over, tying for 26th.
This marked the first time this season that all five Mustangs ended a tournament in the top 30.
"To have all five guys in the top 26 is very solid." Gregory said. "I challenged the guys this week to be more positive on the course and to better manage the course, and they really responded well. This team is getting better each week. The sign of a good team is always being in the top five and we are doing that. We just need a win, and I firmly believe we will win soon. Fortunately, we have two weeks off to practice and prepare for a great run of events heading into conference and the NCAA's."
The Ponies will begin their late-season push in Augusta, Ga., at the Insperity Augusta State Invitational on March 31-April 1.
