Cards Finish Fifth at C-USA Men's Golf Championships

Monday, April 22

Navarre, Fla.

All Day

University of Louisville

Conference USA Championships

Senior Grant Sturgeon put the finishing touches on a career that saw him break the U of L records for single season and career stroke average

April 24, 2002 | Men's Golf

April 24, 2002

The University of Louisville's men's golf team leaned on senior Grant Sturgeon and freshman Brett Jones throughout much of the season and that same one-two punch proved to be the winning formula as the duo finished tied for seventh-place in leading the Cardinals to a fifth-place finish at the Conference USA Men's Golf Championships held at The Club at Hidden Creek in Navarre, Florida.

The Cards saved their best performance of the championships for Wednesday's final round as they shaved four strokes off their first and second round 294s with a 288 to nab a fifth-place finish. Sturgeon and Jones added the finishing touches to an impressive event with rounds of 71 and 72, respectively, while freshman Mark Anderson carded a stunning three-under-par 69 and sophomore Matt Bascom added a 76 to help the Cards edge out UAB, one of the nation's top 30 teams, for fifth-place.

"I'm pleased with the effort we put out there today, it was a great way to finish the event," head coach Mark Crabtree said.

Sturgeon, the lone senior in the Cards' lineup throughout much of the season, concluded his four-year Cardinal career as the U of L record holder for career (73.95) and single season stroke average (73.65). The Cave City native had already secured the career stroke mark entering the league championships but needed to turn up the intensity in order to surpass former teammate Chris Campbell for the school's single season mark. Sturgeon did not disappoint as he fired a three round one-under-par 215 (74-70-71) to finish tied for seventh and top Campbell's season average by two strokes.

Crabtree appreciates Sturgeon's veteran influence on a squad featuring four freshman and two sophomores.

"Grant (Sturgeon) has been an asset to us throughout his entire career, especially as young as we were this year," Crabtree said. "He has been a consummate professional both on and off the course and our young guys were certainly helped by his presence in the lineup."

Jones, who narrowly missed breaking the U of L record for single season stroke average himself, was steady throughout the event, carding rounds of 70, 73 and 72. A native of Paducah, Jones became the first U of L golfer to be named Conference USA Freshman of the Year, a honor he shared with J.J. Killeen of TCU.

In his third season at the reigns of the Cardinal men's golf program, Crabtree knows he has a solid foundation to build a team around.

"It's a tremendous accomplishment," Crabtree said about Jones. "He worked hard and made a lot of progress this year and it's extremely exciting to have a player win an honor like this in a conference which is stacked with talented players."

Another piece to the future of Cardinal golf is Anderson (75-80-69), who recovered from a disastrous second-round 80 with the final round 69 to finish tied with Bascom for 36th. After not seeing much action throughout the season, Bascom came on strong over the final two events of the year and proved to be a steady performer, carding rounds of 77, 71 and 76.

After carding a modest opening-round 75, freshman Charlie Woo faded from contention over the last 36 holes, carding consecutive rounds of 81 to finish tied for 59th-place.

Finish  Team                  Round 1 Round 2 Round 3  Total    1   TCU         291 283 284 858    2   Houston         294 290 280 864    3   Southern Miss   291 291 287 869    4   South Florida   293 289 292 874    5   Louisville  294 294 288 876    6   UAB         295 284 299 878    7   East Carolina   299 291 290 880    8   Charlotte   292 298 295 885    9   Memphis         300 290 297 887    10  Tulane          298 296 298 892    11  Cincinnati  300 294 302 896    12  DePaul          304 295 304 903    13  St. Louis   306 300 303 909    14  Marquette   305 306 309 920

    Finish  Player          R1  R2  R3  Total    T-7 Brett Jones  70  73  72  215    T-7 Grant Sturgeon    74  70  71  215    T-36    Matt Bascom  77  71  76  224    T-36    Mark Anderson  75  80  69  224    T-59    Charlie Woo  75  81  81  237