MADISON, Mississippi – The Texas State men's golf team closed out the Sun Belt Conference Championship with a 3-under final round to place sixth in the 14-team field at 1-under across 54 holes.
Sakke Siltala (74-69-69--212) led the Bobcats (297-281-285--863) for the seventh time in 10 tournaments this season with his sixth top 10 outing. The junior posted a pair of rounds in the 60s, bringing him to a team-best 11 on the season, to finish tied for seventh at 4-under. The finish was the highest for Siltala at an SBC Championship after placing tied for 18th a season ago.
In the team standings, the top four schools advanced from stroke play into Thursday's match play competition, with Coastal Carolina taking the No. 1 seed after a 14-under tournament. Arkansas State (-13) was second, with Georgia Southern (-8) and Troy (-6) rounding out qualifying teams.
"While I'm disappointed in our final position I couldn't be more proud of a group of young men," head coach
Shane Howell said. "We dug ourselves a huge hole after round one and they fought back in rounds two and three to nearly make match play. The guys played some incredible golf the last two rounds and left it all on the course."
Senior
Jack Burke (72-69-75--216) finished in the top 20 in his final championship as a Bobcat. After opening even par, he carded his seventh round in the 60s in round two and closed out the final 18 at +3. His three-round even par score placed him tied for 18th, one place ahead of his best finish at a conference event set in 2023.
Jaxon Donaldson and
Ben Loveard contributed to the team score across all three rounds, while both competing in their first SBC Championship. Donaldson (76-69-72--217), a freshman, finished 1-over and tied for 25th, and Loveard (75-74-71--220), a transfer in his first season at TXST, was 4-over and tied for 41st.
Freshman
Joel Talusen opened the tournament as the number five player in the Bobcat lineup, shooting 7-over on the opening 18, while
Brannan Cox took over for the final two rounds shooting 79-73 good for 8-over.
