Cougars Retain NCCAA Championship
The men’s Cougar golf team claimed their fourth-straight NCCAA national title in Palm Coast, Florida today; they won by 14 strokes. This win is the largest of the four title wins; the past three victories were by five, three, and two strokes, respectively.
Leading the tournament was CCU’s own Chase Carlson, claiming his second tournament win of the season. Carlson set the bar high on the first day by shooting 68, four under par. Carlson was chased closely for two and a half days by another player from Indiana Wesleyan who was just one stroke back as the final round began. Carlson was able shake off a triple bogey and take hold of the tournament on the back nine of the final round with a pair of birdies on holes 15 and 16.
Although Chase took top honors at the tournament, he was not the only Cougar to leave with extra hardware. Redshirt sophomore Nolan Backman and freshman Noah Woolsey each received All-American honors by finishing T4th and T6th respectively. This is the third year in a row that the Cougars notched multiple All-American awards in this tournament.
Culminating the team points for the Cougars were redshirt senior Josh Gardella who finished the tournament in a seven-way tie for 14th place and senior Hayden Nicholaides who was only two strokes behind Gardella at 14-over par.
Not only did the players walk away with some extra hardware, head coach Mark Hull was also honored with his fourth NCCAA Coach of the Year award.
This tournament marks the end of the 2017 half of the golf season, and the team could not have scripted a better finale. They will return in March of 2018 for the NCAA Super Regional Preview tournament in Amarillo, Texas.