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SILVIS, Ill. (May 22, 2009) - Oklahoma Christian University is the 2009 NAIA men's golf national champion. The No. 1 Eagles led every round of the tournament to win the program's first national crown.
Oklahoma Christian held off a late charge by No. 18 Texas Wesleyan University to win the tournament by four strokes. OC fired a 15-over-par 299 on Friday to finish the championship plus-45 1,181. Texas Wesleyan was 49-over 1,185.
"Obviously it's very satisfying, and the first thing I had the guys do is call (former coach) David Lynn and thank him for building the program. None of us would be here without him. Most importantly though, I'm happy for these kids. It's something few teams have a chance to do, and they'll have a memory forever. It's not about me, it's about the kids, and I'm just very glad to be a part of it," OC head coach Kelsey Cline said.
Senior Fernando Gonzales - who has been a part of two third-place (2006, 2007) and one runnerup (2008) team at OC - led the Eagles in sixth place at seven-over 291 after carding a solid three-over 74 on Friday (69-72-76-74-291).
Sophomore Axel Ochoa led the tournament through two rounds and finished tied for 10th place at plus-11 295 (69-70-77-79-295). Ochoa struggled slightly on Friday with an eight-over 79, which the Eagles did not use in their fourth-round team score.
Both Gonzales and Ochoa were more than impressive all week though, and the pair was rewarded for their efforts with all-tournament honors.
Sophomore Oscar Stark shot a three-over 74 in round four to grab a 19th-place tie at plus-16 300 (74-76-76-74). Preston Wilkins, also a sophomore, joined Stark with a 74 on Friday to end the tournament tied for 48th at 24-over (84-80-70-74-308). Freshman Tor-Erik Knudsen carded a 77 on Friday to join Wilkins in the 48th-place slot (79-81-71-77-308).
"I've been looking for this since my freshman year, but we've always been short. We worked very hard for this and we've looked for this since the beginning of the year. We are a team and everyone did a great job, it was all teamwork," Gonzales said.
OC led the tournament by six strokes entering Friday's final round. But things got dicey as TWU made a strong push behind hot-shooting Armando Villareal. The Rams cut the Eagles' down to a single stroke through nine holes, making the more-challenging back nine at the TPC at Deere Run the deciding factor.
But facing its most important series of holes all season, the Eagles showed why they were ranked No. 1 in the final five NAIA golf polls.
OC edged TWU by three shots (148 to 151) on the back nine to earn the monumental victory. Knudsen and Stark each had decisive birdies on the par-five 17th (No. 2 handicap), and the Eagles recorded three pars on 18 to stay on top.
"I knew at the turn we were one up, but I did the same things I've done the past three days just to keep the kids comfortable and not let them know one way or the other. The key to it, like I've told them all year, is we're good enough and talented enough and every shot counts. Hats off to Texas Wesleyan, they played great, but I'm so happy for these young men and the fulfillment of their hard work," Cline said.
Gonzales shot even-par on the back nine after going plus-three on the opening nine.
"I really didn't know what was going, I was just playing. No one knew and we just kept playing and in the end I made my numbers and we did it. We won, we're national champions, it's just awesome," Gonzales said.
The national championship is only the second in OC's athletic history. The men's tennis team claimed the only other title in 2003. The championship also gives the Eagles 10-straight top-four finishes at golf nationals. OC was last year's national runnerup.
Post-tournament hardware came in droves to the Eagles. Cline was named the NAIA and GCA Dave Williams national coach of the year. Gonzales and Stark were tabbed first-team NAIA All-Americans, Knudsen was the Phil Mickelson NAIA Freshman of the Year and Gonzales and Ochoa were all-tournament picks.
The Eagles finish the spring with five tournament titles in just seven events. OC won the Sooner Athletic Conference champion in a playoff over Oklahoma City University in April.
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