Mountaineers Cap Big 12 Championship

Mountaineers Cap Big 12 Championship

TULSA Okla. (April 25, 2018) – Freshman Mark Goetz shot one-over par in the cold, wet conditions of the final round to help the West Virginia University golf team post its best-ever finish at the 2018 Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday.

The Mountaineers finished ninth place in just their third season of varsity competition. They shot 303-288-297-299=1187 to finish 67 over par and three strokes ahead of Kansas State. Defending National Champion Oklahoma claimed the team title at 19-over par with a 72-hole total of 1139, while No. 14 Texas and top-ranked Oklahoma State tied for second at 27 over (1147).

Four golfers shared medalist honors, as No. 11 Doug Ghim (Texas), Jeremy Gandon (K-State), No. 56 Grant Hirschman (Oklahoma) and No. 49 Kristoffer Venture (Oklahoma State) all tied for three-over par with scores of 283.

“Finishing ninth is a positive step forward for our program,” coach Sean Covich said. “It’s good to see our freshmen playing well. We’ve been getting better every year. I look forward to bringing the premier conference tournament in college golf to The Greenbrier next year.”

Goetz posted the best round of the day for the Mountaineers, but fellow freshman Matthew Sharpstene led WVU in the tournament and just missed All-Big 12 accolades with an 11th-place finish – the best-ever by a Mountaineer. He shot five over in the final round to card a 72-hole total 73-67-72-75=287 for seven-over par.

With a pair of birdies on the back nine, Goetz registered a 71 in the final round, tying for the third-lowest round of the day, to finish one-over on the day. He finished the tournament with a score of 77-77-72-71=297, moving up six spots to tie for 36th place.

Sophomore Etienne Papineau also carded a pair of birdies on the back nine, finishing six-over par on the day. His score of 76-72-77-76=301 put him in a tie for 41st place at 21 over.

Senior Avery Schneider finished 11 over on the day and 27-over par in the tournament. He shot 77-73-76-81=307 to tie for 45th place in his final collegiate event. Junior Max Sear finished 49th overall, shooting 81-76-79-77=313 at 33-over par.

West Virginia will host the 2019 Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, next April.

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