Rattler Men’s Golf advances to NCAA championship for third time

The No. 15 St. Mary’s University Men’s Golf team returns to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2018 after finishing fourth at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional at the Victoria Club.
 
The Rattlers shot below par in all three rounds en route to a 54-hole total of 838 (280-273-285/-26). No. 1 Colorado Christian won the tournament at -46, while No. 6 Oklahoma Christian (-32), Cal State East Bay (-29), Cal State San Bernardino (-25) and West Texas A&M (-20) are the other five teams that advance to the championship, which takes place May 19-23 in Palm Beach, Fla., at the PGA National Golf Club.
 
The 838 ties for the fourth-lowest tournament total in St. Mary’s history, and is the lowest total of the season, bettering the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational by one stroke.
 
The biggest mover of the day for the Rattlers was freshman Guillaume Paquette (La Minerve, Quebec), who jumped 26 places into a tie for 47th after shooting a final round of 69. Paquette got better each round, ending the tournament with a three-day total of 214 (74-71-69/-2).
 
Junior Baptiste Touchard (Saint-Agathon, France) tied for sixth overall with 205 strokes (63-66-76/-11). Touchard led the field until midway through the back nine, finishing one shot off his career-low tournament of 204 from the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
 
Sophomore Philip Hallström (Gävle, Sweden) was the only Rattler to post sub-par rounds on all three days, finishing in a tie for 28th place after totaling 212 strokes (71-70-71/-4).
 
Junior Kongpop Kaikaew (Rayong, Thailand) and freshman Elijah Galvan (Austin, Texas) finished within a stroke of each other. Kaikaew tied for 52nd place at 215 (72-70-73/-1), while Galvan was even par to knot for 60th place (77-67-72=216/E).
 
Oskari Nikku from Oklahoma Christian won individual medalist honors at -17. He and Touchard were tied for the individual lead after the first round, and he climbed two spots to win with a 199 (63-69-67).
 
St. Mary’s advances to its third NCAA Championship in school history. In 2006, the Rattlers finished 10th, while in 2018 the team placed 11th. In both 2003 and 2004, StMU had Luke Antonelli advance as an individual, where he finished 10th in 2004. Jamie Amoretti won individual medalist honors in 2006.