Hernan Borja finished second out of 105 individuals with a four-round score of 291 (+7) to lead the Barry University men’s golf team to their first NCAA Division II national title in school history. The Buccaneers finished with a one-stroke lead over the 20-team field, carding a four-round score of 1186 (+50). The tournament was hosted by Grand Valley State at The Meadows in Allendale, Mich.
“We are just very excited right now,” head coach Jimmy Stobs said. “It’s just a tremendous feeling to win a national title. We had a nice lead after the front nine, but we let it slip away on the back. It came down to the wire, but the guys managed to sink puts when they needed to, and they came out on top.”
Sixth-ranked Barry led the national tournament from the opening round on Tuesday and despite 13 bogeys on the back nine in the final round, the Buccaneers finished with a four-round score of 1186 (+50), claiming the school’s first-ever men’s title.
South Carolina-Upstate finished as the national runner-up with a four-round 1187 (+51) score, while Sunshine State Conference member Florida Southern finished third at 1188 (+52). Greg Koch was the Moccasins’ top golfer, tying for sixth with a four-round score of 293. Marc France, who tied for eighth, finished just one stroke behind his teammate (294).
After an opening round ace on the par-three, 202-yard hole 13, Borja paced the Buccaneers day after day and finished second overall after four rounds with a seven-over-par 291 score. It came down to his performance on the final hole for Barry to claim the national title. On the par four, 392-yard hole 18, Borja landed his third shot on the green for a 40-foot birdie attempt. On the first put attempt, he ran the ball six feet past the hole but managed to sink the six-foot put to help Barry claim the national championship.
“After we made the turn, I glanced at the leader board and saw we had started to falter a little bit,” Borja said. “Finally, on the final hole, Coach came up to me and said we that were tied for the lead. That final putt was on an uphill lie and I was shaking, but I just told myself that I needed to make this put and managed to knock it in.”
Two players finished in the top ten individually for Barry. Senior Juan Weissenberg finished four strokes behind Borja with a four-round 295 (+11) score and tied for 10th overall after being one of the more consistent players with rounds of 74-73-74-74. Nick Gillaspy birdied the par four hole 16 on the back nine to finish the final round at two-over(73) and tied for 17th overall with a four-round score of 301 (+11).
Matt Jonah finished tied for 34th with a 302 (+18) four-round score, while freshman Carlos Velez finished tied for 86th overall with a four-round score of 316 (+32).
The Buccaneers post-season finish also brought national recognition to members of the team. Borja was named GCAA (Golf Coaches Association of America) First-Team All-American. Head coach Jimmy Stobs was tabbed GCAA National Coach of the Year.