Last week, the Denver men’s golf team earned a final team score of 865 to take home their third Summit League title. With this championship victory, the team has qualified for regional NCAA postseason play as a No. 13 seed.
On the first day of the Summit League Championships, DU came out strong and tied for second overall with North Dakota State. At 6-over par with a team score of 294, Denver was one shot behind Oral Roberts, the day one victor.
Senior John Sand (Hoquiam, Wash.) led the team individually and finished the first day of competition in third place, just 2-under and one shot from the lead. Juniors Cal McCoy (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Carson Griggs (Sand Springs, Okla.) also had notable performances with both golfers shooting 2-over and tying for 10th overall.
However, as for Sunday’s round two, the team had one of their best rounds of the season. With a team score of 279 (9-under), the Crimson and Gold recorded the lowest round of the tournament to boost them over Oral Roberts and into first place. Sand and Griggs also continued their impressive performance, with Sand earning a second-place all-around finish and Griggs tying for third.
Denver also recorded a notable 21 birdies on the second day of competition to bring the team total to 29, the most of all the competing league teams.
On the final day of the championships, DU had a dominant showing to earn their first back-to-back league titles in program history. Senior Jackson Solem (Longmont, Colo.) became the team’s star golfer on the third day by shooting a 4-under 68 to jump to second place overall. His performance earned him, along with Sand and Griggs, selections in the Summit League All-Tournament.
McCoy and senior Jun Ho Won (Waikahalulu, Hawaii) also had ranked finishes, tying for 12th and 20th respectively after the final day of the competition.
After an impressive championship performance, the Crimson and Gold will travel to Cle Elum, Wash. for the NCAA Regionals on May 17. The top five teams and individuals on non-advancing teams from the regional competition will earn a spot to compete in the NCAA Championships.
