Complete Results

The Malone University men's golf team, led by veteran head coach Ken Hyland, was ranked third in the NAIA's final national poll heading into this week's NAIA National Championships at the TPC Deer Run in Silvis, Illinois. The team knew that an NAIA national championship was not out of the question. With definite aspirations of earning the school's second NAIA national title in men's golf (2000), the Pioneers were on the brink of doing just that after holding a share of first place after day three of the four-day 72-hole event. Malone narrowly missed out on that goal, though, by a mere six strokes, as the team posted a score of 1190 (299-293-304-294) for a third-place national finish as Oklahoma City University won the national title with a score of 1184 (293-299-304-288). Malone finished just one stroke behind runner-up Oklahoma Christian University, which had an 1189 (291-301-306-291). South Carolina Beaufort finished fourth at 1191 (295-291-312-293) while Holy Names (CA) University rounded out the top five with a score of 1195 (296-302-305-292) among a 29-team field. In addition, Ken Hyland was voted by his peers as the NAIA National Coach of the Year, an honor that typically goes to the coach of the national championship team.

The biggest story of the tournament, though, for Malone was the play of one Pioneer athlete in particular. Malone's top golfer all season, junior Justin Lower (pictured above; Northwest H.S.) capped off a truly phenomenal season by capturing the individual NAIA national title. Posting an incredible four-under-par score of 280 on the par 71 course over the four days, Lower easily won the individual title by six strokes over the runner-up finisher, Brett Quitiquit of Madonna (MI) University who finished at +2 (286). With rounds of 68, 70, 71 and 71, Lower was the only golfer at the national tournament to finish under par for the event. In addition, he became the second golfer in Malone history to earn an NAIA individual national crown, matching his coach, Ken Hyland, who did it in 1969 (when Hyland became Malone's first-ever NAIA All-American in any sport with the feat).

At the conclusion of the tournament, Lower was named to the NAIA Ping All-America Team and also received the NAIA Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway as the medalist of the NAIA championship. The victory was Lower's eighth of the 2009-10 year. The NAIA will name the Men's Golf Player of the Year the week of May 24th. In addition to being named to the NAIA Ping All-America Team, Lower was also named a First Team GCAA (Golf Coaches Association of America) All-American.

As a team, Malone held the eighth spot after the first day of competition before posting the second-best score of day two to climb all the way into a tie for second place. The Pioneers then moved into a tie for the lead after day three before slipping two spots for their third-place overall finish.

The team's third-place finish would not have been possible without the outstanding play of the other four team members representing Malone at the event. Ben Smith (Sr., Carrollton H.S.) finished second for Malone and 26th overall with a score of 299 (72-76-79-72) while Tyler Light (Fr., Massillon Perry H.S.) was third for the team and 38th overall at 303 (81-69-77-76). Richie Schembechler (So., Massillon Washington H.S.) finished 69th with a score of 312 (82-78-77-75) and Michael Strayer (Sr., Riverside H.S.) tallied a 317 (78-78-84-77) to finish 83rd.