Final Results (.pdf)

KETTERING, Ohio - Freshman Taylor Gardner put up his second round of par or better for the week as he carded a final round 70 at the Dayton Flyers Intercollegiate at NCR North on Tuesday (Apr. 13) to lead the IUPUI men's golf team to the finish. Gardner ended the tournament at 4-over 214 (69-75-70) as IUPUI finished the event seventh among the 12-team field at 860 (288-281-291). 

Gardner was solid throughout his round on Tuesday, closing with seven straight pars on the heels of making birdie at No. 1 on his 11th hole of the day. Classmate Kevin Tillery chimed in with a final round, 2-over 72 and Matthew Baxter posted a round of 4-over 74. Both Keegan McCullough and Brock Aten ended their tournaments with a final round 75. 

"The guys made some great strides this week. Today we got some good play from Gardner and Tillery," assistant coach Vince Drahman said. "The other guys struggled a bit, but we know where we need to work and improve. We will have a couple days to straighten out the tee balls and work on the short game, then we're right back at it with Wright State this weekend. Every time we tee it up we've got another chance to improve."

The Jaguars struggled in the morning, but finished strong as Gardner played his final nine holes to even par, as did Tillery and Aten. Baxter played his final nine to 2-over with a bogey on his final hole of the event. Gardner finished tied for 17th overall and Aten tied for 22nd at 215 (73-67-75). 

"I thought this week was a big step forward for our team because it showed that we have other guys that are able to step up when our upperclassmen aren't playing their best golf," Gardner said. "There were a lot of positives from this weekend to build off of and still a couple things we need to clean up before conference."

McCullough tied for 26th at 216 (74-67-75) overall. 

While the Jaguars ranked sixth among the field with 38 birdies, IUPUI was near the bottom of the field with 157 pars. Gardner had a team-high 11 birdies for the week, ranking seventh among the 64-player field. McCullough tied for 11th overall with nine birdies for the week. Baxter had a team-high 35 pars over 54 holes. 

Host Dayton roared to a four-shot win at 5-under 835 while Bowling Green was next in line at 839. Horizon League foe Wright State finished third at 840. Cleveland State's Zak Supelak and Dayton's Kyle Schmidt tied for first place before Schmidt won the first playoff hole and was designated as medalist.

IUPUI will make a return trip to the Buckeye State later this week when the Jaguars compete in the Wright State Invitational at Heatherwoode Golf Course in Springboro, Ohio, on Apr. 18-19.