PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – UIndy junior
Keegan Bronnenberg made history Wednesday at the NCAA DII Championships, becoming the school's first-ever men's golf individual national champion. The Muncie, Ind., native led the Greyhounds to a 18-stroke win in the 54-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament, securing the No. 1 seed entering tomorrow's medal/match play quarterfinals.
The Hounds will be paired up with eighth-seeded Lee University tomorrow morning, with tee times set to start at 7:30 a.m. ET. The Championships are being held at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Bronnenberg carded scores of 76-69-75 to finish at +4 – two strokes ahead of second place. As the individual medalist at Division II's marquee event, he bested the previous best finish by a Greyhound of fourth place, attained by Seth Fair in 2010.
The four-way tie for second included standout senior
Erik Edwards (74-73-75). Taking advantage of a fifth year of eligibility granted due to the pandemic, Edwards settled at +6 during stroke play, one stroke ahead of teammate
Ian Carroll (74-73-76) in sixth.
Ian's brother
Cam Carroll also snagged a top-15 spot. Highlighted by a second-round 71, the younger Carroll finished at +13 to share 15th place. Senior
Oliver Mast (80-74-81) tied for 28th among the 84-person field.
TUESDAY RECAP
The UIndy men's golf team made a giant leap Tuesday at the NCAA DII Championships, using a two-under 286 to vault four spot into No. 1 on the team leaderboard. As one of four Greyhounds in the top six, junior
Keegan Bronnenberg carded a second-round 69 to lift him into a tie for first individually.
The Greyhounds have built a healthy 16-stroke lead heading into Wednesday's final round of stroke play. The Hounds are in prime position to snag a top-eight spot after tomorrow to qualify for Thursday's medal/match play quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the individual national championship will be decided by tomorrow's final stroke-play results, with Bronnenberg making a strong pus in the second round. The Muncie, Ind., native carded 13 pars and four birdies Tuesday on the way to the posting the field's lowest score of the week. He now shares the top spot with Lee University's Oliver Lewis-Perkins at +1.
A pair of Hounds are right on their heels, with
Erik Edwards (74-73) and
Ian Carroll (74-73) tied for third at +3. Junior
Cam Carroll (77-71) put up a red number Tuesday to springboard into a five-way tie for sixth at +4.
Senior
Oliver Mast carded a two-over 74 Tuesday to move up to a tie for 28th.
Wednesday's final group will feature three top-10 teams in Golfstats rankings. No. 10 UIndy will be paired with tip-ranked West Florida and No. 4 Arkansas Tech, with tee times starting at 12:05 p.m. ET.
MONDAY RECAP
The Greyhounds opened play at the 2021 NCAA DII Championships Monday with a 13-over 301, good for fifth place among the 16-team field.
The Hounds were led by the senior tandem of
Erik Edwards and
Ian Carroll, as both carded an opening-round 74 to share 9th place. Carroll easily had the team's best back nine on Monday, coming in with a one-under 35.
Junior
Keegan Bronnenberg sits at +4 in a tie for 27th, followed by junior
Cam Carroll (+5) in 36th and senior
Oliver Mast (+8) in 51st.
Arkansas Tech (+7) tops the team leaderboard, with its first-round 295 good for a four-stroke lead over second-place Georgia Southwestern.
Individually, the duo of Santiago De La Fuente (Arkansas Tech) and Ian Trebilcock (Washburn) pace the field at -1.
