Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
The Red Wolves recorded a 302 and 292 for the first and second rounds, respectively, to finish Monday’s competition tied for fifth place. A-State was in eighth place after the opening 18 holes, but posted their best score this spring the next round to climb three places in the standings.
A-State fell two spots in the standings with their final-round score, finishing seven strokes behind sixth-place Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. UNLV claimed the tournament championship with an 845, while Utah Valley was runner-up with an 865 and Oral Roberts finished third with an 887.
“Obviously, we didn’t play like we wanted in the last round,” said A-State head coach Steve Johnson. “I felt like the conditions favored us a little, but we just made too many big numbers during the course of the round that made it difficult to recover. For the most part, though, I saw a lot of good things from our team. You could still see a little rust, but hopefully we’ll have something to build on. We have some areas we need to work on, but I think the next three tournaments we’ll see a significant improvement since we’ll be able to get out on the course more with the weather conditions improving.”
Easton Key finished tied for 12th place with a combined 220 (73-71-76), including a low score of 71 in the second round, to lead the Red Wolves. Joining Key among the top-25 finishers was Chance Holden, who placed tied for 23rd with a 225 (76-70-79). Holden’s total included a 70 for the second 18 holes that was the lowest single-round score of the tournament by an A-State player. Key collected his third top-15 finish of the year and Holden his fourth top-25 showing.
Also competing for the Red Wolves, Landon Hearnes and Seth Garner finished tied for 48th place with a 232 each. Hearne’s total included rounds of 74-77-81 and Garner 79-74-79. Alex Hewitt posted a 237 (81-77-79) that placed him tied for 63rd.
Arkansas State returns to action March 24-25 at the UALR Trojan Intercollegiate in Little Rock, Ark.
ARKANSAS STATE RESULTS
Place, Name (RD 1-RD 2-RD 3--TOTAL)
7, Arkansas State (302-292-313--907)
T12, Easton Key (73-71-76--220)
T23, Chance Holden (76-70-79--225)
T48, Landon Hearnes (74-77-81--232)
T48, Seth Garner (79-74-79--232)
T63, Alex Hewitt (81-77-79--237)
Below is a press release courtesy of the Arkansas State University about Chance Holden -
2012-2013: As a junior, Holden played in 32 rounds at 11 tournaments...Shot a low score of 70 at the Jackrabbit Invitational and placed a season high T11 at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate...He had three other top 25 finishes, T14 at the ASU Fall Beach Classic, T14 at the ASU Red Wolves Intercollegiate and T22 at the Sun Belt Conference Championship...Holden held an average score of 75.8.
2011 - 2012: Played in six rounds and attended two tournamens (Sam Hall Intercollegiate Tournament & Amelia National Intercollegiate Tournament). Finished with a season high 55th placement in the Ameilia National Intercollegiate.
2010 - 2011: Played in nineteen rounds during seven tournaments...During those tournaments, Holden shot a low score of 72 two times, and also placed a season high rank of T29th at the Sun Belt Conference Championships...He held a an average score of 78.
High School: Dexter, Mo. native . . . All-state and all-conference selection and the district medalist at Dexter High School in 2009 . . . All-conference selection in 2007 and 2008, as well as the district medalist in 2008 . . . Over the last four years, Holden posted the lowest high school score in a match 33 times and claimed six tournament titles . . . Averaged 74.9 strokes per round in tournament play and was his high school's team medalist from 2007-09 . . . During 2009, Holden posted six top-10 and nine top-25 finishes in 11 tournaments played . . . Also played basketball as a freshman . . . President of the Dexter High School Honor's Society, which he was a member of since 2008.
Photo courtesy of Arkansas State University Athletic Department.
