WARREN, Ohio - What an experience and what a ride. True freshman Luke Cote equaled his opening round performance with a final round 74, Caleb Miller posted a team-leading 73 in Wednesday's final trip around the par-72, 7,287-yard course of the Avalon Lakes Golf & Country Club and Southern Arkansas matched its Tuesday score with a 300 (+12) as its inaugural national tournament run came to an end with a 910 (+46). The NCAA DII National Championship served as a program record 11th match of the season and caps an historic run and a blistering effort over the past two months of play.
Cote placed inside the top 75 of the 108-golfer field. He sandwiched a round two 80 to finish with a 54-hole total of 228 (+12). On Wednesday, the Canadian finished the front nine even and nearly finished the round under par as he shot +2 and finished his final four holes the same way he started the round with three pars and a birdie. He totaled a dozen pars and three birdies for the round.
Connor Harrington and Logan McDonald each finished tied for 80th following three-round scores of 229. Harrington shot a 77 in his final round and McDonald trailed in round three with a 78.
Harrington went one under on holes No. 2 through 7 to finish the front at +1. Similar to Cote, trouble on a single hole prevented a near under-par round for the junior. He used two back nine birdies to erase a pair of bogeys and finished his third effort with three birdies and ten pars.
McDonald recorded 11 birdies as he finished both the front and back nine at +3. He bounced back after bogging down on No. 13 and 14 with a birdie on No. 15 to spur three pars to close out his final 18. McDonald delivered two birdies and eleven pars in round three.
Caleb Miller fired a team-low round on the day with a 73 to match Harrington's score on Tuesday for the lowest by a Mulerider in the tournament. Miller finished his 54-hole effort at 231 (+15). He started his final round with four pars, added a birdie on the par-4 No. 9 to hold at +2 through the front nine. He then produced three birdies on the back half to sit at +1 for the round. Miller totaled nine pars for the round.
In his final round of collegiate golf, Brendan Little posted his best round of the tournament with a 76 behind a hot start to the early morning round that included notching birdies on three of his first five holes of the day. He finished with nine pars in round three and a 54-hole total of 234 (+18).
For the tournament, the Muleriders posted the best effort on par-3 scoring at +3. Miller led at -2, the second-best effort among the tournament field, for SAU on such scoring and Cote followed at -1. SAU totaled 148 pars paced by Harrington's 34 and sank 37 birdies led by Cote's nine.
