The Troy men’s golf team tied for eighth place at the Sun Belt Men’s Golf Championship as stroke play concluded on April 30 at Annandale Golf Course.
The tournament was affected by several weather delays on Wednesday, which forced play to stop in the evening while Lawton Emblom was preparing to take his final tee shot. The Trojans struggled with consistency during the last round, finishing 15-over as a team after posting a 1-under score on Tuesday. Six birdies were made by Troy in the final round, three of them by Pablo Gracia.
Over the week, Troy finished tied for third among all teams with 168 pars but was tied for twelfth in birdies with a total of 35 across three rounds. Lee Poppell led the Trojans individually, ending up three-over par and tying for eighteenth place after shooting two-over in his last round. He started strong from hole ten and turned at two-under par thanks to birdies on holes eleven and sixteen but dropped strokes late due to a double bogey and two bogeys.
Gracia, Emblom, and Thomas Crane each finished six-over par for the week and shared thirty-second position. Gracia carded a seventy-five in his final round aided by his three birdies; Emblom and Crane both posted five-over rounds. Haston Emblom replaced Grant Yerger in the last round and recorded an eight-over eighty.
Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, Southern Miss, and South Alabama advanced to match play following stroke play results. James Madison narrowly missed out on advancing by one shot after recording six-over in their final round.
