FISHERS, Ind. - The UW-Eau Claire men's golf team finished ninth in the 35-team NCAA Division III nationals which concluded at the Hawthorns Golf and Country Club here Friday.

The four-day, 72-hole tournament was won by St. John's University, a team the Blugolds beat by three strokes in their final regular season meet, May 5-6. The Johnnies won by 12 strokes over runner-up La Verne University of California and by 13 over Ohio Wesleyan University. The Blugolds were 41 behind St. John's but only four strokes in back of sixth-place Rhodes College of Tennessee and a single stroke behind both Texas Lutheran and Guilford College of North Carolina, both of whom tied for seventh.

The Blugolds totaled 310 on their final round after going 319, 311 and 305 on the first three days.

On their final rounds, the Blugolds counted a 75 by Tyler Leis (Sr.-Reedsburg), a 77 by Mason Milner (Jr.-Onalaska), a 78 by Rob Norris (Sr.-St. Paul, MN/Cretin-Derham Hall) and an 80 by Mike Greer (Sr.-Vadnais Heights, MN/White Bear Lake). The fifth Blugold was Ryan Brockhaus (Sr.-Mayville) who carded an 82.

Overall, Norris was the highest placing Blugold with a 72-hole total of 307. He was the only Blugold to break 80 all four days with rounds of 79, 76, 74 and 78.

Greer tied for 30th with a 311 (77-80-74-80), Leis tied for 52nd with a 315 (86-78-76-75), Brockhuas tied for 74th with a 319 (79-77-81-82) and Milner tied for 94th with a 325 (84-83-81-77).

This was the Blugolds' ninth NCAA appearance, their first under second-year coach Jim Maguire, and their highest finish since a fourth in 2002. The Blugolds won a national championship in 2001 under current UW-Madison women's golf coach Todd Oehrlein.

Final Results

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