Late birdies clinch the 5-stroke win for Lion men at Midwestern State Invitational.

Burch, Blackmon, and McCulloch slam the door with birdies on their final hole

WICHITA FALLS – After seeing its lead shrink to one stroke during Tuesday’s second round, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s golf team had three birdies on the final hole to claim the championship of the Midwestern State Invitational. 

The Lions completed the 54-hole event with a score of 856 (+4, 289-282-285), defeating host Midwestern State by five strokes. A&M-Commerce’s first event won since the spring of 2019 and marked the Lions’ 9th-best 54-hole score all-time. 

Entering the final stages of the competition, Midwestern had narrowed the Lions’ lead to two strokes, but A&M-Commerce emphatically stopped the Mustangs’ charge with final hole birdies from Zach Burch (Lubbock – Cooper), Brody Blackmon (Sulphur Springs), and Nathan McCulloch (Edinburgh, Scotland).

“We are very proud of the guys for hanging in there today and getting their first win of the year,” said Lion assistant coach Lucas McCubbin. “The tournament got pretty tight out there between us and MSU, but we persevered and scored four birdies on our last two holes.” 

Burch claimed fourth place on the individual leaderboard at 3-under par 210 (73-67-70), only one stroke back of eventual champion Eemeli Jarvinen of West Texas A&M, who won a three-way playoff. Burch shot a 1-under par 70 in Tuesday’s round with three birdies, including his final hole. He led the par 4 scoring average tournament and claimed his second career top-five and sixth career top 10 finish. 

Tripp Wallace (Wolfforth – Frenship) placed sixth on the individual leaderboard at 1-under par 212 (74-69-69), carding 14 birdies over 54. He led the Lions in Tuesday’s round with a nice round of 2-under par 6, including six birdies to notch his first top 10 finish for A&M-Commerce. 

McCulloch placed in the top 10 in his first tournament as a Lion at 3-over par 216 (70-72-74), scoring three birdies in the final round, including the final hole. 

Blackmon closed the tournament with birdies on the final two holes to finish in 13th place at 6-over par 219 (72-75-72). Individual competitor Simon Haas (Lorch, Germany) placed 28th at 11-over par 224, and Joe Wolcik (Cleveland – Tarkington) placed 53rd at 18-over par 231. 

The Lions close out their fall schedule on October 26-27 in Amarillo at the Palmer Foundation Invitational hosted by West Texas A&M.

Rank	Team	Scores			Total	Par
1.	A&M-COMMERCE	289	282	285	856	+4
2.	Midwestern St.	296	280	285	861	+9
3.	Dallas Baptist	291	298	279	868	+16
4.	Hutchinson CC	297	281	299	877	+25
5.	UT Tyler	296	286	297	879	+27
6.	Western N.M.	288	303	295	886	+34
7.	Arkansas-Ft. Smith	293	297	297	887	+35
8.	Colorado Christian	313	291	290	894	+42
9.	Tex. A&M International	296	297	302	895	+43
10.	West Texas A&M	294	288	316	898	+46
11.	Cameron	299	289	312	900	+48
12.	Cameron B	305	311	310	926	+74

 

A&M-Commerce	289	282	285	856	+4	1st
Zach Burch	73	67	70	210	-3	t-4th
Tripp Wallace	74	69	69	212	-1	t-6th
Nathan McCulloch	70	72	74	216	+3	10th
Brody Blackmon	72	75	72	219	+6	t-13th
Simon Haas #	76	74	74	224	+11	t-28th
Joe Wolcik	76	74	81	231	+18	t-53rd