PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Behind five birdies over his final 10 holes, Arkansas men’s golf redshirt junior Kolton Crawford carded his third straight under-par round at the Carmel Cup held at historic Pebble Beach Golf Links to earn a share of fourth place.
Crawford’s three-day score of five-under 211 (70-70-71) saw the Mansfield, Texas native produce Arkansas’ low round each day. Over the three rounds, Crawford had 14 birdies – good for second-most amongst the field – highlighted by four over his final eight bogey-free holes to shoot one-under 71 in the final round. It marks his third career top five finish, following up last year’s performance at the NCAA Columbia Regional.
The Razorbacks, who were ranked No. 21 in the GCAA Preseason Poll, finished seventh amongst the eight-team field that featured six ranked teams. Arkansas finished the three days at eight-over par (361-359-368), ahead of 2014 NCAA runner-up Oklahoma State, who ranked tied for first in the GCAA Preseason Poll.
The SEC occupied the top two spots in the standings with No. 5 Georgia holding off No. 16 Vanderbilt for the team title. The Bulldogs finished the three days at 17-under par while Vanderbilt was just five strokes behind thanks to a final round nine-under 351.
Junior Taylor Moore continued to climb the leaderboard with a final round even-par 72 on Sunday to record his 21st career top 20 in a tie for 15th place. Moore was joined by freshman Alvaro Ortiz who turned in a solid collegiate debut with three counting scores for a 71-71-74/216 (E) scorecard.
Arkansas will return to the course in two weeks at the Fighting Illini Invitational (Sept. 12-14) held in Chicago and Olympia Fields. For more information on Arkansas men’s golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
#RazorStat Of The Day
Crawford five birdies over the final 10 holes brought his 54-hole total to 14, good for a career-high and the second-most turned in by the 48-player field.
@RazorbackMGolf Lineup
T4. Kolton Crawford – 70-70-71/211 (-5)
T15. Taylor Moore – 73-71-72/216 (E)
T15. Alvaro Ortiz – 71-71-74/216 (E)
T33. Emil Soegaard – 74-73-75/222 (+6)
T41. Nicolas Echavarria – 73-75-76/224 (+8)
T46. Gonzalo Rubio – 75-74-77/226 (+10)
Carmel Cup Standings (GCAA Preseason Ranking)
1. Georgia (5) – 352-358-353/1063 (-17)
2. Vanderbilt (16) – 364-353-351/1068 (-12)
3. TCU – 361-350-363/1074 (-6)
T4. Texas Tech (RV) – 355-356-364/1075 (-5)
T4. Oklahoma – 359-363-353/1075 (-5)
6. South Carolina (12) – 362-352-365/1079 (-1)
7. Arkansas (21) – 361-359-368/1088 (+8)
8. Oklahoma State (T1) – 362-373-366/1101 (+21)