MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. -- An even 72 highlighted the final round for Tom Forster (Oundle, England) as he closed out his time in the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships Finals on Wednesday tied at 63rd.
Forster's seven-spot move up the leaderboard in the final day ended with a 224 total, eight-over for the 54-hole tournament. He improved by five strokes through the three rounds.
Starting on the back nine for a second straight day, Forster found even more improvement in the third round, shooting for even in the latter portion of the course. This was his best showing on the final nine holes of the course through the entire event.
He opened the day with a bogey on the 10th, paving the way for a couple of birdies and another bogey on 18 to keep him squared away before the turn. In the front nine, Forster shot for par on each hole.
Through the event, Forster tied for the 14th-most par shots with 37. He was +4 on par 3 holes, +2 on par 4s and +1 on par 5s.
Forster's conclusion at the tournament brings the season to an end for the No. 18 Eagles.
"Much better round today, excellent ball striking and no big numbers," head coach Randy Wylie said. "Tom had a really fine year, great representative of the Eagle nation!
"We are looking forward to a great year in 2018-19. We had a good spring as a team, didn't quite finish the deal, but are excited to have five starters coming back on a SAC Championship and nationally ranked team."
Florida Southern's John VanDerLaan, the No. 1 player in the nation, took home the individual title holding a 17-under total score of 199. He was seven-under on the final day of competition. Barry's Jorge Garcia was second at -13 while Saint Leo's Oliver Lilliedahl stayed at third in the final round, -12 overall.
As the top eight teams prepare for match play, No. 2 Florida Southern made a huge leap into first place after a -12 round on Wednesday, pushing the Mocs to 24-under after 54 holes. No. 3 Barry sat in second at the end of the day with a -18 total while No. 4 Lynn was at third, 16 shots under par.
For all of the most up-to-date news and information about the men's golf team in the off-season, be sure to check into cneagles.com and follow @CNathletics on Twitter.
