EDMOND, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech men's golf team got back to familiar territory on Tuesday – a perch atop a team leaderboard – as they topped the 21-team field at the Super Region Preview by three strokes.
FINAL RESULTS
The team win is the first the program since April 2022 when the Wonder Boys claimed the team title at the Argonaut Invitational. What makes this team victory even more special is the fact that none of the golfers in Tech's lineup this time out were on the team back in 2022. Additionally, the win marks the continued climb back to the top that was started last year by four of the five players that played for Tech the past two days.
Those four returners included
Jackson Cole,
Oscar Darlington,
Shaun Jones and
Viktor Olund. All but Jones were transfers into the program last year as Jones was the lone remaining player in the program heading into last season following a head coaching change after the 2021-22 season.
Cole, Darlington and Jones were key contributors in the win this week as the trio all finished in the top-20. Jones finished tied for 17
th overall and shot two-over (212) for the tournament, which was played at the par-70 KickingBird Golf Course in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Cole and Darlington both shot under par for the tournament and placed in the top-10 individually. Cole, who finished tied for ninth, was two-under (208) with rounds of 71-66-71. His second round 66 stroke total was his best as a Wonder Boy and tied for the fourth-lowest in program history. Overall, his 208 total is tied for the fifth-lowest in program history for a 54-hole event.
Darlington finished one stroke better than Cole overall and totaled 207 with rounds of 70-69-68. His tournament total of 207 tied for the fourth-lowest in program history for a 54-hole event.
Stealing the headlines early on in the tournament was true freshman
Drew Griffiths. The Van Buren native was making his collegiate debut this week and started things off as good as you could possibly get as he made birdie on his first four holes played. The heater eventually cooled off, but Griffiths still had a solid collegiate debut and finished tied for 34
th with a six-over (216).
The Wonder Boys will look to keep the momentum going next week as they are set to close out their fall slate of action at the Tulsa Cup. The event is being held at the Club at Indian Springs in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and will take place from Monday, October 23 – Tuesday, October 24.
