VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. – Paced by top 10 finishes from juniors Nicolas Echavarria and Taylor Moore, the Arkansas men’s golf team concluded the two-day, 54-hole Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in sole possession of fifth place at Old Overton Club on Tuesday.
Part of a 12-team field that featured four ranked teams and three others that received votes in the last GCAA top 25 poll, the Razorbacks posted a final round 284 that was led by a one-under 69 from Echavarria. Arkansas improved on its second round score by three strokes and finished just four back of third place.
The one-under 69 was the second of the tournament for Echavarria, who book-ended his par of rounds in red numbers around a second round 71 to finish in seventh place. Echavarria, who missed Arkansas’ last event due to playing the World Amateur Team Championships in Japan, was a combined four-under on the front nine over the three rounds en route to his third career top 10 finish.
Moore supplied the team’s lowest round of the tournament on Monday morning with a three-under 67 before shooting 71 and 72 to tie for eighth place at even-par 210. Now with nine career top 10s to his credit, Moore carded three birdies on the back nine on Tuesday to help the Razorbacks move up a spot after making the turn in sixth place.
Freshman Alvaro Ortiz led Arkansas with 13 birdies over the three rounds and grabbed a share of 15th place. Now a perfect 6-for-6 in supplying a counting score this fall, Ortiz’s 69-71-73/213 scorecard featured birdies on 11 of the 18 holes. Redshirt junior Kolton Crawford turned in the second-best score by a Razorback in the final round with an even-par 70.
Host and No. 14 Alabama earned a 13-stroke win over the rest of the field, while No. 4 Florida State and No. 24 UNLV rounded out the top three. The Razorbacks finished three strokes ahead of No. 2 Georgia Tech, good for their second win over a top 2 ranked team this fall.
Arkansas will conclude its fall schedule on Oct. 19-21 at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational formerly known as the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational. The three-day event will be held in Orlando, Fla. at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
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@RazorbackMGolf Quick Nine
• The top five finish is Arkansas’ 62nd under head coach Brad McMakin and the 33rd since the start of the 2010-11 campaign (56 tournaments).
• Four of the five players in the lineup supplied at least one round at even-par or lower.
• The top 10 is the second in the last four events played for Echavarria after having just one top 10 in his first 20 career tournaments.
• The under-par round on Tuesday was the 10th of Echavarria’s career and the fourth time he’s had two under-par rounds in the same tournament.
• Echavarria has finished under-par in three of his last five tournaments.
• Moore has now finished in the top 20 in 15-of-19 career events.
• Moore has contributed three counting scores in 10 of his last 11 tournaments.
• Ortiz sports a team-low 71.5 stroke average through six rounds in the fall.
• Despite playing in just two tournaments this fall, Ortiz is second on the team in birdies with 23.
@RazorbackMGolf Lineup
7. Nicolas Echavarria – 69-71-69/209 (-1)
T8. Taylor Moore – 67-71-72/210 (E)
T15. Alvaro Ortiz – 71-69-73/213
45. Kolton Crawford – 75-78-70/223
59. Emil Soegaard – 81-76-80/237
Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Standings (GCAA Ranking – Oct. 3)
1. Alabama (14) – 268-285-277/830 (-10)
2. Florida State (4) – 290-273-280/843
3. UNLV (24) – 286-283-280/849
4. UAB – 289-280-283/852
5. Arkansas (RV) – 282-287-284/853
6. Georgia Tech (2) – 285-278-293/856
7. Mississippi State – 294-287-282/863
8. Charlotte – 296-284-286/866
9. Texas A&M (RV) – 290-290-288/868
T10. UTSA – 296-289-288/873
T10. Georgia State (RV) – 306-284-283/873
T10. Ole Miss – 304-276-293/873