HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - Bolstered by a final round 73 from Brendan Byrne and a 74 from Pat Luth, the Cleveland State men's golf team captured its sixth Horizon League Championship overall and its fifth in the last nine years.
The event concluded on Sunday at the par-72, 6,776-yard Mission Inn Resort El Campeon Course.
Senior Andrew Bailey, the Horizon League Player of the Year in each of the last three seasons, capped the tournament with a final round 76 and claimed medalist honors by two strokes. Bailey's 54 hole total of 218 (72-70-76) made him just the third player in league history to win the league tournament two times.
He joins Shaun Rezachek of Green Bay (1998, 2001) and former CSU golfer Jake Scott, who was medalist at the league championship in 2008 and 2009.
Bailey was the co-medalist at the league championship as a freshman, sharing honors with teammate Michael Klaric, and was the runner-up at last year's event.
The Vikings used a final round 299 to finish with a 54 hole total of 892 (300-293-299) and beat runner-up Detroit by three strokes as the Titans finished at 895 (303-296-296).
Youngstown State finished third (911) and was followed by Valparaiso (915), Wright State (940), Green Bay (945) and Oakland (969).
Bailey was on the all-tournament team for the third time in his career, while Balcar made it for the second straight year as he finished tied for fifth place at 224 (71-73-80) on the heels of tying for third place last year.
Byrne joined the duo on the all-tournament team as he tied for seventh place with rounds of 79-73-73 (225). Byrne started with back-to-back birdies to begin today's final round and used three birdies on the back nine, including one on the 18th hole, to post a two-under-par 35 on the inward nine.
Detroit jumped past CSU in the race for the title on the back nine for a brief moment, but birdies by Bailey on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes vaulted the Vikings back into a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the tournament.
Luth tied for 14th place at 230 (79-77-74), while Mitchell Moore tied for 17th place at 231 (78-77-76).
By virtue of winning the league championship, CSU earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships. The selections will be announced live via the Golf Channel on Monday (May 5) at 10:00 a.m. during the Morning Drive.
The regionals will take place from May 15-17 with sites in Auburn, Ala., Columbia, Mo., Raleigh, N.C., Sugar Grove, Ill., Eugene, Ore., San Antonio, Texas.
CSU RESULTS
1. Andrew Bailey, 72-70-76 - 218
T-5. Michael Balcar, 71-73-80 - 224
T-7. Brendan Byrne, 79-73-73 - 225
T-14. Pat Luth, 79-77-74 - 230
T-17. Mitchell Moore, 78-77-76 - 231
TEAM RESULTS
1. Cleveland State, 300-293-299 - 892
2. Detroit, 303-296-296 - 895
3. Youngstown State, 305-300-306 - 911
4. Valparaiso, 309-300-306 - 915
5. Wright State, 313-318-309 - 940
6. Green Bay, 311-317-317 - 945
7. Oakland, 328-316-325 - 969
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
1. Andrew Bailey Cleveland State 72-70-76-218
2. Brendan Leonard, Detroit 76-74-70-220
3. Spencer Lendzion, Detroit 71-74-76-221
4. Evan Bowser, Oakland 75-75-73-223
T5. Michael Balcar, Cleveland State 71-73-80-224
T5. Bryan Yeo, Youngstown State 78-72-74-224
T7. Brendan Byrne, Cleveland State 79-73-73-225
T7. Brandon Pluchinsky, Youngstown State 74-74-77-225
