April 23, 2013
TEXARKANA, Ark. - The Old Dominion University men's golf squad finished 12th in its first Conference USA Championship event. The University of Houston claimed its sixth Conference USA men's golf title, as the Cougars finished the three-round tournament at the par 72, 6,935-yard Texarkana Country Club with a seven-under 857.
The Monarchs John Dawson shot 73 in the final round to finish the 54-hole event at 223 and tied for 30th. Freshman Ashton Newsom tied for 40th as he finished at 226. As a team, the Monarchs finished at 905. Newsom tied for third in total birdies with 12 and Dawson tied for fourth in par five scoring at 4.42. ODU played the tournament without senior standout Thomas Wilde who had a hand injury.
Houston sophomore Roman Robledo earned medalist honors as he was eight-under (208), including a career-low round of 65 Monday. That 65 was the lowest round carded in the five seasons the conference championship has been held in Texarkana.
SMU earned runner-up honors as the Mustangs were four-under with a team score of 860. SMU freshman Bryson Dechambeau finished six-under to place second overall, while teammate Mario Clemens finished fifth as both were named to the all-tournament team.
UCF, UAB and Marshall held onto their positions from Monday and finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. The Knights placed three players in the top 10, including all-tournament honoree Ricardo Gouveia. The junior finished fourth overall at four-under, scoring a consistent 71-71-70=212.
Marshall senior Nathan Kerns carded the low score of Tuesday's final round with a 68. Kerns moved up four spots and placed third overall with a 71-72-68=211 (-5) to earn his spot on the all-tournament team.
Houston receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals. Complete team and individual qualifiers, as well as site of regional play, will be announced early next month.
Team Standings (Final)1t. Houston - 286-280-291=857 (-7)2. SMU - 278-288-294=860 (-4)3. UCF - 285-291-287=863 (-1)4. UAB - 296-286-291=873 (+9)5. Marshall - 292-291-295=878 (+14)6. Tulsa - 297-291-293=881 (+17)7. UTEP - 289-298-296=883 (+19)8. Memphis - 291-303-292=886 (+22)9t. Southern Miss - 294-302-295=891 (+27)10. East Carolina - 298-298-304=900 (+36)11. Rice - 298-300-304=902 (+38)12. Old Dominion - 299-300-306=905 (+41)
Old Dominion 299 300 306 905T30 John Dawson (1) 74 76 73 223T40 Ashton Newsom (2) 72 76 78 226T44 Jamison Randall (5) 77 71 79 227T51 Garth McGee (3) 76 79 76 23159 Seth Sweet (4) 80 77 85 242