BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson men's golf team capped off the 2016 Mid-South Conference Championship Tournament with a 3-over par 291 on Wednesday to conclude the three-day event with a 16-over par 880 and finish in second place at the Bowling Green Country Club.
Cumberlands (Ky.) won the conference championship after they finished the tournament with a 7-under 857. The Patriots posted an even par 288 on Friday. Cumberland (Tenn.) finished 10 shots behind Lindsey Wilson as they posted a tournament total of 26-over par 890.
Ben Kendrick captured medalist honors as he finished the tournament with an 11-under par 205. After posting an 8-under par 64 on Tuesday, Kendrick fired a final round score of 2-under par 70.
Jonathon Grabara and Federico Navarro led the Blue Raiders in the final round with a pair of 1-under par 71s. Grabara finished the tournament with a 1-under par 215, which slotted him in third overall. Navarro remained in a tie for fourth place at the conclusion of the tournament with an even-par 216.
Grabara had a solid opening nine, carding a 2-under on the front thanks to a pair of birdies on the par-5 second and par-4 eighth. He continued the momentum, moving to 3-under after a birdie on the par-5 14th before he had back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16 to slip back to 1-under where he finished.
Grabara had the best performance of any player at the tournament on the par-3s, finishing at 1-under across the 54-hole event. He finished with 13 birdies during the competition, trailing only Kendrick with 19. Navarro also reached double-digit birdies with 10.
Navarro played the front nine to 2-over, but caught fire on the back nine as he birdied four holes from the 10th to the 17th to move to 2-under. His only blemish on the back nine came on the 18th when he finished with a bogey.
Zach Madewell was the one of three players to shoot even-par 72 on Wednesday. Madewell dropped four strokes from his rounds on Monday and Tuesday to finish the tournament in 14th with an 8-over par 224. He recorded 38 pars during his three rounds, which tied for the most of any player in the 45-man field.
Madewell opened his final round with five-straight pars before a birdie on the par-4 sixth put him at 1-under. But a bogey on the seventh brought him back to even after the first nine. Madewell recorded two bogeys and two pars on the final nine to finish at even-par for the round.
Chris Butler turned in a 5-over par 77 on Wednesday to conclude the event tied for 21st with a 14-over par 230. He fell to 3-over after the opening four holes of the round, finishing the front at 4-over. Butler settled in and recorded seven-straight pars to start the back, finishing the final nine at 1-over.
Ryan Nowe rounded out the five-man team for Lindsey Wilson as he also shot a 5-over par 77. Nowe concluded the tournament with a 15-over par 231, which placed him 23rd in the field.
Jordan Hagan competed as an individual for the Blue Raiders and he fired a 2-over par 74 in the final round of the tournament. Hagan finished 17th overall with an 11-over par 227 and recorded 34 pars, which tied for the eighth-most. He played the par-4s to even-par, the second best score of the tournament.
As a team, Lindsey Wilson led the 54-hole tournament in par-3 scoring at 6-over and finished with 162 pars, the most of any team.
Georgetown's (Ky.) Kaleb Lester had the low round of the day on Wednesday with a 3-under par 69. Lester moved into a tie for fourth place with an even par 216.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Grabara garnered First Team All Mid-South Conference honors. Navarro and Madewell earned Second Team All-MSC recognition.
Cumberlands' Kendrick was named the MSC Golfer of the Year, while Pikeville's (Ky.) Saul Lanigan was the MSC Freshman of the Year.
