The Simon Fraser University men’s golf team shot 285 in the third round to finish in fifth place and advance to Thursday and Friday’s match play rounds at the NCAA Division II championships in Conover, North Carolina on Wednesday.
Simon Fraser will face St. Leo University in the first round of match play today (Thursday). St. Leo tied for third with Central Missouri, but lost on the second tiebreaker.
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The Clan had 14 birdies on the day to finish with a three-round total of 859, one stroke away from St. Leo and Central Missouri’s third-place tie. St. Leo is the seventh-ranked team according to Golfstat, one behind the Clan who are ranked sixth.
Freshman Chris Crisologo entered a third round of 71 to tie for eighth overall in the 108-player tournament. Crisologo carded rounds of 71, 69 and 71 for a three-round, two-under-par total of 211, just six strokes from the individual champion at the 7,021-yard Rock Barn Golf Course.
Following individual play, Crisologo was named to the Phil Mickelson all-freshmen team presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation in Div. II men’s golf.
Alan Tolusso of Burnaby tied for 17th place with a one-over-par 214 following an opening round 72 and back-to-back 71s.
Kevin Vigna tied for 27th in the championship round after shooting a final-round 75. He finished with a 218 total.
John Mlikotic finished up with a one-under 70 to place in a tie for 43rd with teammate Bret Thompson at 221, eight over par.
Central Missouri’s Sam Migdal, who led the entire tournament, was the individual champion finishing with a three-round score of 205. Lynn University was the top finishing team with an 853 total.
The match play rounds bracket the eight-remaining schools against one another to decide the NCAA Div.II champion. The No. 1 team faces the No. 8, No. 2 faces No. 7, No. 3 pairs with No. 6 and No. 4 challenges No. 5. Five golfers from each team will compete against five from the opposing team in an 18-hole match play format. A point will be awarded to the winners of each duo after 18-holes and the team with the most points at the end of the five rounds advances.
The winners of each team tandem will advance to the semifinal round and the winners of that to the championship to be held on Friday.
The Clan joins the 2012-13 Western Washington team as the only Great Northwest conference squads to ever reach the match-play rounds. The Vikings reached the semifinals and placed third that season after knocking off top-ranked Florida Southern.
Simon Fraser finished 17th overall in 2014.
Clan coach John Buchanan is among five finalists for the Dave Williams Award presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America. The Williams Award honors the national coach of the year in Div. II men’s golf.
Match Play Quarterfinals (all times Eastern)
Match 1: No. 8 Florida Southern vs. No. 1 Lynn, 7:30 a.m.
Match 2: No. 4 St. Leo vs. No. 5 Simon Fraser, 7:40 a.m.
Match 3: No. 2 Nova Southeastern vs. No. 7 Chico State, 8:20 a.m.
Match 4: No. 3 Central Missouri vs. No. 6 USC Aiken, 8:30 a.m.
Semifinals
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 1:50 p.m.
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 2:40 p.m.
Finals
Friday, 9:00 a.m. Match 5 winners vs. Match 6 winners
