DU Takes the Summit Crown

Led by Griggs and Solem, the Pioneers Clinch 3rd straight conference title.

By Jon Rizzi

It’s only fitting that a train appears on the logo of Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton, Kan. After all, the site of this year’s Summit League Men’s Golf Championship features an active railway on its 7,086-yard layout.

But over the course of the three-day tournament, which ended May 3, it was the University of Denver that resembled a locomotive as it roared to its third consecutive conference championship.

After shooting into lead with a second-round 3-under 281, the Pioneers went into the final round three shots ahead of the North Dakota State University Bison.

Behind the play of senior Carson Griggs, whose closing round of 68 put him at 8-under for the tournament, and grad student Jackson Solem’s 3-under total of 213, the team from Denver posted the second-lowest 54-hole total in Summit League history.

They needed every one of those strokes to clip the team from Fargo. DU’s 14-under 850 was one better than NDSU’s 13-under 851. Griggs finished second overall, five shots behind the Bison’s Nate Deziel. Solem finished fourth, while DU’s Jun Ho Won and John Sand tied for sixth at 1-under. Esteban Missura tied for 19^th with a 4-over.

The Pioneers’ three consecutive conference victories is the longest streak in the 10-team conference since Western Illinois University (2006-’08). It has also come under three different head coaches: Erik Billinger, Trake Carpenter and Logan Goulding.

Goulding arrived last fall from the University of San Diego, where he was an assistant to 2004 Ryder Cup player Chris Riley.

The Summit League champions will compete in the NCAA Regionals at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, Calif. They are ranked 12th out of the 14 teams. The Colorado State University Rams men’s team, which finished second in the Mountain West Conference championship behind medalist Connor Jones, will enter the Regional qualifier at Traditions Club in Bryan, Tex. at the 11th seed.

DU’s women’s golf team—which last week captured its seventh Summit League title and 17^th overall Division I conference championship—already knows it will will be heading to Tallahassee. Like Goulding, Head Coach Martha Richards is in her first year as Denver’s coach.

Click here for all the men’s scores.

Click here for all the women’s scores.

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