March 28, 2000
Stevinson, Calif. - The University of Missouri men's golf team finished 11th at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational, which wrapped up today at the Stevinson Ranch in - you guessed it - Stevinson, Calif. The Tigers finished tied for 11th in the 14-team tournament, along with Southwest Missouri State. The teams had identical three-round team totals of 931. Kansas claimed the team championship with a total of 877.
Missouri was forced into action without the services of its top player, in senior David Suggs. Suggs separated two ribs in a practice round prior to the tournament, and was unable to play either day. One of the Big 12 Conference's top players, Suggs carried a 74.0 stroke average into the tournament. Had he played to that average in California, MU would have knocked as many as 21 strokes off its team score - which would have put the Tigers in 5th place as a team. His status for the remainder of the season will be evaluated upon the teams' return to Columbia.
The rest of the Tiger lineup included a young group which featured three sophomores and a true freshman.
Sophomore Mark McBride led the way individually for MU, as he tied for 12th with a three-round 224 total. His final-round one-under-par 71 was one stroke shy of a career-best, and was the second-best total posted in the final day. His finish marked his 4th top-20 finish of the 1999-2000 season.
Finishing just out of the top-25 was fellow sophomore Neal Stafford, who tied for 27th with a total of 230 for three rounds. Sandwiched between rounds of 78 and 80 was a solid even-par 72 in the second round of play for the Springfield, Mo. native.
Rounding out the Tiger lineup were freshman Shawn Fleming and sophomore Cory Ewert, who tied for 49th and 63rd, respectively.
Up next for Head Coach Tim Robyn's Tigers is the Wichita Intercollegiate, to be held April 10-11 in Wichita, Kan.
TEAM STANDINGS Pl Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1 Kansas 286 286 305 877 2 Colorado 294 296 295 885 3 Air Force 302 299 305 906 4 Iowa St. 303 298 308 909 5 Kansas St. 299 307 308 914 6 Illinois St. 296 308 313 917 7 Nebraska 304 300 315 919 8 Weber St. 304 308 308 920 Drake 300 308 312 920 10 Northern Iowa 298 311 315 924 11 MISSOURI 306 311 314 931 SW Missouri St. 302 317 312 931 13 Oral Roberts 318 304 311 933 14 Denver 314 323 324 961INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS Pl Player (School) 1st 2nd 3rd Tot 1 Ryan Vermeer (KU) 71 72 74 217 2 Ben Leestma (Air) 74 70 74 218 Scott McNeely (KSU) 69 75 74 218 Conrad Roberts (KU) 69 73 76 218 5 Kane Webber (CU) 72 72 75 219 Greg Stephanson (IaSt.) 74 70 75 219 7 Matthew Zions (CU) 76 74 70 220 8 Matt Call (CU) 70 76 76 222 Chris Marshall (KU) 75 71 76 222 10 Andy Stewart (KU) 72 72 79 223 12 Mark McBride (MU) 75 78 71 224 27 Neal Stafford (MU) 78 72 80 230 49 Shawn Fleming (MU) 76 78 81 235 63 Cory Ewert (MU) 77 83 82 242 wd David Suggs (MU) wd wd wd