Sophomore Logan Mayo recorded the second highest individual finish ever by an UMSL men’s golfer at an NCAA Division II Championship when he tied for fourth after 54 holes of stroke play at this year’s event at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada. He helped the Tritons secure the No. 2 seed in Medal/Match play, and they advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history. (Photo by Luke Rinne/UMSL Athletics)
Men’s Golf
The University of Missouri–St. Louis capped one of the most successfully seasons in school history by knocking off seventh-seeded Cal State San Bernardino 4.5-0.5 in Medal/Match Play Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships for the first time in school history. But the ride ended there as the second-seeded Tritons lost to third-seeded Wingate 3.5-1.5 in their semifinal match at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada. UMSL went back-and-forth with Wingate in the semifinal but came up short as Benjamin Berger dropped his match with Lewis Beeden by two strokes despite finishing 3-under-par, Leo Baudry fell to Brandon Skidmore by three strokes and Logan Mayo lost his match with Mattia D’Errico by three strokes. Trigg Lindahl tied his match with Alfie Storer as both players finished 1 under, and Dani Solavera won his match with Cole Rouse by disqualification.
The Tritons had been dominant in Thursday morning’s quarterfinal with Baudry, Lindahl, Berger and Mayo each winning their matches by at least three strokes. Solavera tied his match with Tyler Price. All five UMSL golfers finished under par with Lindahl, Solavera, Berger and Mayo all recording rounds in the 60s.
UMSL also excelled during the stroke play portion of the championship, earning the No. 2 seed after posting a school-record-tying 54-hole score of 837 after three days of competition. At 27 under, it was also the second-lowest score in relation to par in the history of the NCAA Division II Championships, bettered only by Florida Southern, who snagged this year’s top seed with a record low score of 829. Mayo was the Tritons’ top individual finisher, tying for fourth-place with a total of 206. It was second-highest individual finish by an UMSL golfer in history, topped only by Joel Sylven’s individual national championship won in 2022. Mayo’s score was two shots better than Baudry and Solavera, who tied for 10th at 208. Lindahl finished with a total of 1-under-par 215, tied for 41st.
The University of South Carolina-Beaufort’s Octavio Laurent was crowned as the individual national champion with a 54-hole total score of 199, including a final-round 63. He won by four shots over Colorado Christian’s Lance Christensen Jr., who shot a 203, including 64 in the final round.
The performance at nationals punctuated a strong season at UMSL. Coach Troy Halterman‘s team also won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship and recorded a runner-up finish at the NCAA Midwest/Central Regional.
