Spiders storm to third-place finish at Ross Collegiate Classic

Monday, March 7

Southern Pines, NC

8:00 AM

University of Richmond

Ross Collegiate Classic

Spiders storm to third-place finish at Ross Collegiate Classic

03/08/2022 | Men's Golf

RESULTS

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- Four Spiders shot even par of better in Tuesday's final round of the Ross Collegiate Classic as Richmond posted a team score of 4-under par (284), second best of any team in the field of 17. The round allowed the Spiders to jump to third spot on the leaderboard, matching their finish at last year's event.

"It was a really nice round today from the guys and definitely something to build on heading into the Forest Creek event," said Richmond coach Adam Decker. "It was certainly a nice finish to start the [spring] season."

Richmond finished the event at 882 (+18), five strokes behind Elon and eight behind champion Seton Hall. In Tuesday's final round, senior Michael Childress shot a 2-under 70 and was joined by junior Lou Baker (71, -1), junior Ben Cooper (71, -1), and sophomore Garrett Clark (72, E) at par or better.

Baker finished the event at 2-under par (214), tied for fourth in the field of 108. It was the second-best tournament result of his Richmond career, behind only a runner-up finish at the 2021 Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate.

"Lou is really close - he managed his game well around the tricky Donald Ross greens," said Decker. "I think he would say his ball striking wasn't where he wanted it, but he was able to do a nice job of scoring."

Childress moved up four spots on the leaderboard during the third round to finish tied for 13th at 2-over par (218), his seventh career top-20 tournament finish. Childress played the par 4s at Mid Pines in a combined 1-under par, tied for the best of any golfer.

Freshman Cole Ekert tied for 48th at 228 (+12). Cooper and Clark were both able to rebound to post their best rounds of the tournament in Round 3 Tuesday.

Richmond will return to action Saturday when the Spiders host the Forest Creek Collegiate in Pinehurst, N.C. "Our game plan won't change," said Decker. "We need to learn the course. We are the host team, but we don't have much experience playing there. The team has been playing well at home in qualifying so we're looking to take another step in our process this semester."