Spiders rally on final day of Atlantic 10 Championship

Sunday, May 1

Orlando, FL

8:15 AM

University of Richmond

Atlantic 10 Championship

Spiders rally on final day of Atlantic 10 Championship

05/01/2022 | Men's Golf

RESULTS

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – After entering the final round of the A-10 Championship 13 shots behind the leaders, the Richmond Spiders knew it would take something special to get to the top of the leaderboard Sunday. And for most of the day Sunday, that's how the Spiders played: special.

Playing on the opposite side of the course from the tournament leaders, Richmond roared out of the gate. The Spiders combined to play their first six holes, numbers 10-15, in a combined 8-under par, almost immediately jumping into the top five on the leaderboard after starting the day in a tie for sixth.

Following another round of birdies shortly after making the turn, Richmond reached 9-under par in Round 3 and 4-under par for the tournament, climbing all the way into second place and getting within two shots of the lead.

"I was aware that it was a really hot start," said coach Adam Decker. "And everyone was making birdies. When you start like that, it's always a challenge to avoid settling for where you are in relation to par. We were in a position where we needed to keep making birdies, and I think we were mostly able to do that."

"We said at the beginning of the week that we wanted to get to Sunday and be in the mix at the top of the leaderboard. And even though we made it a little bit harder on ourselves Friday and Saturday, we were able to get there today. We came up a little bit short but I think that experience, that sense of what it feels like when you're near the top late in a really big event, is really going to help us all throughout next season."

UR righted itself after some big numbers late in the round to finish the day at 4-under par, the second-best score of any team on Sunday. Richmond finished the 54-hole event at 865, one stroke over par and tied with George Washington for fourth in the 11-team field. It was Richmond's best finish in a conference tournament since winning the A-10 title in 2017.

The Spiders finished the week with 55 birdies, five more than any other team in the field. "I think that shows that we have the firepower we need," said Decker. "It was only a handful of big numbers over the week that hurt us. If we can get to a place where we're turning those into just bogeys, this team can be really special."

Junior Ben Cooper finished the event tied for 14^th on the individual leaderboard at even-par 216, the best of any Spider. Cooper shot 32 (-4) on his final nine holes Sunday en route to a 1-under 71.

Senior Michael Childress tied for 17^th at 217 (+1) after shooting a 2-under 70 Sunday. Childress played his first six holes in 5-under par in Round 3, making an eagle on the par-5 14^th. For the week, he was 2-under par on the par 3s on the Watson Course at Reunion Resort, tied for the best in the field.

Sophomore Garrett Clark shot 2-under 70 Sunday to finish at 218 (+2), tied for 21^st in the field. It was Clark's best result since September, when he tied for ninth at River Run Collegiate.

Junior Lou Baker and freshman Cole Ekert finished at 219 (+3), part of a group of five golfers that tied for 23^rd. Baker's 13 birdies were the most of any Spider and tied for second most in the field. Richmond was the only team to have all five golfers finish in the top 25 in the field of 55 golfers.

Following the tournament, Ekert was named to the A-10 All-Conference Team for his performance over the course of the 2021-22 season. Ekert is the first Spider freshman to earn All-Conference honors since Matthew Lowe in 2015.