The University of Denver men’s golf team ended the final round of the Sun Belt Conference Championships with its best performance of the tournament.
The Pioneers ended the tournament, held at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with a third place finish and one of their best rounds of the season.
They shot a 54-hole total of 892, which was 28-over par, and 15 strokes back of winner South Alabama. The Jaguars won the tournament on the final hole by one stroke, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Pioneers had a slow start, ending the first day tied for seventh and only ten strokes back of leader Louisiana-Lafayette.
Leading the way for the Pioneers was James Love, who ended the day alone in second place after shooting a 3-under par 69. He was only two strokes back from the tournament leader.
Next was sophomore Charlie Soule, who finished tied for eighth after shooting an even-par 72 in the first round.
Senior Jimmy Cunningham and Junior Anthony Gillick were next on Denver’s scoring list, each shooting a 7-over par 79. They finished the first round tied for 38th place.
The second round featured better play from the Pioneers as they moved up to fourth place, putting themselves in great position to win the tournament.
Tying for the second best round of the day, the Pioneers shot a 9-over par 297 to jump to the fourth position at the end of the day. They trailed the leader of the tournament by ten strokes heading into the final round of the Championships.
Love continued to shoot well as he finished the day in a three-way tie for second place, shooting a 2-over par 72. Soule remained tied for eighth place at the end of the second round after shooting a 2-par 74.
Gillick improved his play by five strokes and ended his day shooting a 2-over par 74 and tied for 27th place.
The Pioneers ended their second round again ten strokes back from the tournament leader Louisiana-Lafayette going into the final day of the tournament.
Soule ended the final day with the second best round of the tournament, shooting a 4-under par 68 and moving up six spots to tie for second place.
“I basically try and go out and win every tournament,” said Soule. “The better I shoot, the more it helps the team.”
Love entered the final day of the tournament in a four-way tie for second place. But after shooting an 8-over par 80 for the day, he dropped to finish alone in 15th place. Gillick was the Pioneers next finisher, tied for 29th and Cunningham ended his final day tied for 32nd place.
Soule, Love and Cunningham were all named All-Sun Belt Conference. The Pioneers were one of three teams to place three players on the All- Conference Team.
“We are a very close knit group of guys that always have each others backs,” said Gillick. “We have experienced team leaders as far as coaches and players, and we are willing to put in the time and effort that is needed to perform at a high level.”
