Chris Crisologo Wins First GNAC Championship
by Steve Frost/SFU Athletics
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Simon Fraser University’s Chris Crisologo shot an even-par 71 to protect his lead and claim his first GNAC individual championship and sixth career title on Tuesday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course.
The junior from Richmond finished the event at 5-under-par 208 to edge Chris Hatch of Western Washington by two shots. Crisologo tallied three birdies in a stretch of five holes on Tuesday to earn a comfortable lead with eight holes to play.
He led the tournament with 15 birdies over three rounds, shooting 70, 67, and 71 to finish the event as the individual tournament champion. Crisologo came close to winning the GNAC Championships title twice previously with top-3 finishes in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Crisologo leads the conference this year by more than a full stroke with 71.5 strokes per round
Western Washington seniors Jeffrey Marcum and Hatch each recorded pars on all of the last three holes to help the Vikings overcome a one-stroke deficit to beat Concordia by one for the Vikings’ eighth GNAC Men’s Golf Championships title in program history.
Western Washington shot a 19-over-par 871 over the three rounds to lead a pack of four teams that finished within four shots of each other. The Vikings trailed Concordia by six strokes going into the final round, but recorded nine birdies in the front nine of the final round to close the gap. Saint Martin’s had the best result of the third round, shooting a 3-over-par 287 to finish in third place at 21-over-par 873. Simon Fraser took fourth place with a score of 9-over-par 875.
The overall team score was tied with Hatch and Concordia’s Nick Huff, playing the final three holes. Hatch recorded a par, while Huff and Crisologo each tallied bogeys. The threesome each carded pars on the final two holes of the event with everyone in attendance crowded around the green to see the final puts. Hatch sunk his put to secure the one-stroke victory and Western Washington’s second consecutive team title.
Simon Fraser had a total of nine holes left to play between Crisologo, Kevin Vigna and Craig Titterington when it trailed Western Washington by just one shot and was tied for second place with Concordia at 18-over-par. That was the closest the Clan got to the team title, however, finishing with four players inside the top 20 in the end.
Vigna, who won the GNAC title in 2014, finished 11th in the tournament this year after shooting rounds of 72, 77 and 72 for an 8-over-par 221 total. He led the tournament with 40 pars. Marcus Brown was 17th after rounds of 75, 75 and 74, finishing 11-over-par 224. Titterington was one spot behind in 18th after a 12-over-par 225 (72, 77, 76). Sy Lovan finished in 30th spot (243).
Saint Martin’s began in the first wave, meaning the Saints finished with a 23-over-par 873 while three of the other top four teams were still on the course. The Saints could only wait to see the final result as they moved up to third place, but eventually finished two shots behind the Vikings.
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Click HERE for final results