The Arkansas men’s golf team fired 17 birdies and two eagles Monday to pull away for a 10-stroke victory at the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minn.
The Razorbacks knocked off a pair of top 10 teams — including defending NCAA champion Oklahoma — and five top 20 squads en route to tying the team score of 4-under 848 at Windsong Farm Golf Club.
“I’m really proud of these guys for battling and coming out with a win against a great field here in Minnesota,” Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin said. “Beating two top 10 teams and knocking off the defending national champions will give this team confidence that hopefully we can build on moving forward.”
The Razorbacks won their 25th tournament under McMakin and extended their streak of winning at least one event per year to 12 seasons.
Sophomore Mason Overstreet, the NCAA runner-up last spring, had three birdies and an eagle to finish off his second-consecutive round of 4-under 67 to come in second place in the medalist race.
Senior Alvaro Ortiz fired a final round 68 to finish in a tie for fifth. Ortiz, who had a tourney-high 13 birdies, has back-to-back top 10 finishes to open the fall season.
Sophomore William Buhl had a 1-under 70 Monday and finished in a tie for 13th place. The Razorbacks final counting score went to junior Charles Kim, who followed an even-par 71 in the second round with a 74 and tied for 31st place.
The Razorbacks led the field with 51 birdies, eight more than Baylor, Minnesota and Charlotte.
No. 8 Baylor came in second place with a 6 over, while No. 6 Oklahoma was third at 7 over. No. 17 Kent State finished fourth at 8 over, followed by No. 19 Pepperdine (+14) and Michigan State (+17), Arizona State (+18), Charlotte (+21), No. 45 Purdue (+22) and No. 41 San Diego State (+23).
Arkansas returns to action at the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Sept 25-26.