Missouri men’s golf played Rounds 1 and 3 at the Morgan Hill Regional at 1 under and 3 over, respectively. But it wasn’t enough to overcome a second-round 21-over 309. After the final day of play Wednesday at The Institute Golf Club in Morgan Hill, California, Missouri finished in seventh place at 23-over 887 and missed the five-team cut for the NCAA Championships.
“I know we didn’t quite play how we wanted to, obviously,” MU senior Charlie Crockett said, “but we played nicely today and we just left ourselves too much of a task.”
Heading into Wednesday’s final round, the Tigers knew they had to make up 12 strokes to move into fifth place. But MU tried not to put too much pressure on itself.
“You can’t go out there trying to shoot a good score,” Crockett said. “You just always try and execute the shots the best that you can and see where that gets you at the end.”
The Tigers shot a final-round 3-over 291 on Wednesday to climb from 10th place to seventh. It was the fourth-lowest team score of the day, but Mizzou finished 12 strokes behind fifth-place Pepperdine.
“Today (was) the total opposite (of the second round),” Missouri co-head coach Mark Hankins said. “All five guys in the mix played great and put up, I think, probably the best number of the tournament because we played late afternoon in the wind.”
Hankins added that if the Tigers had been in the morning wave, he felt they would have had a chance to shoot under par and put up a stronger challenge for a top-five finish.
While MU struggled as a team for periods of the tournament, Crockett and freshman Alfons Bondesson saw individual success.
Crockett shot a final-round even-par 72 to finish 1 under for the tournament and tied for fourth.
It was Crockett’s third consecutive top-10 finish. He was just one of six players to finish under par at the regional.
“(Crockett) managed where his misses were at, his short game was sharp, chipping is much better, putting was good,” Hankins said. “I think he’s just a mature player right now. He’s playing good, and it doesn’t matter what golf course he’s playing, he’s going to figure it out.”
Bondesson, who held the solo lead after Round 1, finished tied for 11th with a score of 1 over for the tournament. He shot a final round 74.
Antonio Safa, another MU freshman, finished strong, shooting 72 despite a pair of lackluster rounds to open the tournament. Safa finished tied for 50th with a score of 12 over.
Jack Lundin joined Safa in a tie for 50th. He shot 74 in the third round, and his score was dropped from the Tigers’ team total.
DJ Springer’s 73 was the Tigers’ final counting score Wednesday. He finished tied for 64th with a score of 16 over.
This tournament concludes Missouri’s season. The Tigers will return four members of their starting lineup next season.
