Ferris State Men's Golf Captures Program's 21st GLIAC Championship
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's golf team captured the program's 21st Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship on Sunday (April 18) as the Bulldogs posted a pair of head-to-head wins to secure the league crown at the Stoatin Brae Golf Club in Augusta.
After earning the number two seed following the stroke play portion of the league championships, the Bulldogs advanced to the medal match round and beat Saginaw Valley State in morning action, claiming the win by virtue of the stroke total tiebreaker after the two teams tied 2-2-1.
In the championship match, FSU then knocked off number one seed Grand Valley State by a 3-2 score in afternoon play to emerge with the league title.
This year's GLIAC Championships continued the format established three years ago in which all league members competed in 36 holes of stroke play on Friday and Saturday. The low four of five scores counted towards the respective team score with the top four teams advancing to head-to-head medal play on championship Sunday. The bracket format is similar to the current format utilized at the NCAA Championships.
In the opening match of the day, the Bulldogs topped third-seeded Saginaw Valley State. The two teams split the matches with FSU winning two and the Cardinals winning two along with a tie, but Ferris State had the lower stroke total. The Bulldogs' Adam Arif Madzri won by five strokes with Thomas Hursey a one-stroke winner for FSU and Joshua Jeffords battled to a tie.
After beating SVSU, the Bulldogs came back with another strong performance versus Grand Valley State in the title match on the par 71 course measuring 6,742 yards. Jeffords was a five-stroke winner with Madzri claiming a win by two holes. Finally, the match came down to Hursey, who emerged by one, giving FSU the victory and the league championship. The Lakers had secured the top seed in the stroke play portion of the championship.
Along with Madzri, Hursey and Jeffords, the Bulldogs' Trent Barth and Nathan Kraynyk also represented FSU and competed in the GLIAC Championships under coach Kylee Sullivan.
This year's GLIAC Championships were held in Augusta, Mich., with action at the Gull Lake View Golf Club and Resort. It also marks the second consecutive time in which FSU has won the league title under the current format as the Bulldogs captured the 2019 crown in Augusta before last year's event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ferris State, which was ranked among the top 10 teams in the NCAA Midwest Regional Rankings entering the conference championships, will await the official NCAA selection announcement set for Friday, April 23, at 6 p.m. (ET) at NCAA.com.
Visit the links below for final results from Sunday's GLIAC Championships:
Semifinals - http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=match&tid=22790&rid=1
Finals - http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=match&tid=22790&rid=2