The third round of the 2011  Sun Belt Conference Men’s Golf Championship held at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala., was canceled due to severe weather, giving the DU men’s team the conference championship after only two rounds of play.

The victory marks only the second time in program history that the Pioneers are SBC champions. The team previously won in 2008.

DU led the field through two rounds, shooting a three-under par 573 until severe weather in the area forced SBC officials to cancel the scheduled third round early Wednesday morning.   

“I am really proud of our team,” said head coach Eric Hoos. “We came here with confidence and determination and got the job done. I am really excited for our team that we get to represent the university at the NCAA Regional Championships.”

Junior Troy Anderson lead the Pioneers to victory with a two-under par 142, placing him in a tie for 6th place overall.

Freshman Oskar Arvidsson continued his outstanding rookie campaign as he shot a 143, one-under par, placing him in 8th place overall. Shooting par for the Pioneers were freshman Ole Ramsnes and senior Klinton Kreiger. Shooting par resulted in a tie for 11th place for the two Pioneer golfers.  

Sophomore Carlos Ortiz, a golfer on the North Texas team, took home the individual tournament title with a seven-under par 137 through rounds one and two.

North Texas and Louisiana-Monroe finished four strokes behind DU with a team total of 577, and one-over par. Arkansas State finished 3rd at eight-over par with 584 strokes, and Louisiana-Lafayette finished in 4th shooting 12-over par with 588 stokes.

While the men’s NCAA Regional Tournament bids have not been released, the Pioneers look forward to competing in the NCAAs after earning an automatic bid because of winning the SBC tournament this weekend.