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PADUCAH, Ky. – Northern Kentucky University's golfers said farewell to the Great Lakes Valley Conference in style Tuesday by capturing the league's championship.
In the first match-play competition to decide the GLVC men's golf champion, the format provided a thrilling finish as NKU earned its sixth conference title by defeating Indianapolis, 3-2, at the Country Club. With the win, the Norse earned the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships.
NKU's sixth GLVC men's golf title is also its last, as the Norse are moving to Division I play next year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Indianapolis has won 13 GLVC men's golf titles, the most in league history.
In standard stroke-play tournament scoring, the Greyhounds were actually nine shots better, outscoring the Norse 295-304 on Tuesday. However, all five positions competed for one match point, which enabled NKU to secure the crown.
As the final pairing of NKU's
Corey Richmond – the 2012 GLVC medalist – and Indianapolis' Aaron Monson approached the 18th green, the match between the two teams was tied, 2-2, while Richmond held a one-stroke lead over Monson.
Both players' third shots into the green came to rest 12 feet away from the pin in different directions. The two were so close that rules official Dean Terry and CC of Paducah head professional Jason Stilley resorted to the tape measure and declared Monson away by five inches.
Monson missed his birdie attempt, giving Richmond a two-putt par to win the match and the GLVC championship for his team.
Indianapolis twice fought back today to bring the match to all square. In the No. 5 position, NKU's
Zach Wright carded a 78 for a three-shot victory over Indy's Rob Gleixner and his 81, but the Greyhounds responded at the No. 4 spot.
Max Bowling put together not just the best round of the entire tournament, but the best 36-hole of the event, carding a 4-under-par 68 to defeat NKU's
Jones Brown (77). In the morning's second semifinal match against Bellarmine, Bowling turned in a 1-under 71 to give him a 36-hole total of 5-under 139 on Tuesday.
NKU reclaimed the lead when
Steve Rickels' 75 bested David Frank's 77 at the No. 3 position. Indy's Jacob Yocum responded at No. 2 with a 75-79 victory over
Michael Schmidt, setting up the thrilling finish at the end.
Both Northern Kentucky and Indianapolis advanced to the afternoon's final round by defeating No. 4 seed Rockhurst and No. 3 seed Bellarmine by 4-1 scores, respectively.
2012 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship
Country Club of Paducah, Paducah, Ky.
Match Play Semifinals
No. 1 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 4 Rockhurst 8:00 a.m. - #5
Zach Wright, NKU (74) def. #5 Brad Welch, RU (75) | NKU 1-0 8:09 a.m. - #4
Jones Brown, NKU (72) def. #4 Josh Kerns, RU (78) | NKU 2-0 8:18 a.m. - #3
Steve Rickels, NKU (78) def. #3 Dan Schaller, RU (85) | NKU 3-0 8:27 a.m. - #2 Tanner Bulejski, RU (71) def. #2
Michael Schmidt, NKU (76) | NKU 3-1 8:36 a.m. - #1
Corey Richmond, NKU (75) def. #1 Clarke Fry, RU (79) | NKU 4-1
No. 2 Indianapolis vs. No. 3 Bellarmine 8:45 a.m. - #5 Robert Gleixner, UINDY (78) def. #5 Chris Stout, BU (81) | UINDY 1-0 8:54 a.m. - #4 Max Bowling, UINDY (71) def. #4 Alex Foley, BU (79) | UINDY 2-0 9:03 a.m. - #3 David Frank, UINDY (77) def. #3 David Shearn, BU (79) | UINDY 3-0 9:12 a.m. - #2 Bryan Ratterman, BU (74) def. #2 Jacob Yocum, UINDY (78) | UINDY 3-1 9:21 a.m. - #1 Aaron Monson, UINDY (74) def. #1 Ryan Glass, BU (76) | UINDY 4-1
Match Play Championship
No. 1 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 2 Indianapolis 2:00 p.m. - #5
Zach Wright, NKU (78) def. #5 Robert Gleixner, UINDY (81) | NKU 1-0 2:07 p.m. - #4 Max Bowling, UINDY (68) def. #4
Jones Brown, NKU (77) | All Square 2:14 p.m. - #3
Steve Rickels, NKU (75) def. #3 David Frank, UINDY (77) | NKU, 2-1 2:21 p.m. - #2 Jacob Yocum, UINDY (75) def. #2
Michael Schmidt, NKU (79) | AS 2:28 p.m. - #1
Corey Richmond, NKU (74) def. #1 Aaron Monson, UINDY (75) | NKU, 3-2
