With the Missouri Valley Conference Championships looming, the Saluki golf team sets historic marks Tuesday by winning the Big Blue Intercollegiate in Nashville, Tenn.

This is the first tournament the Dawgs have won this season. Their previous first-place finish was at the 2012 Skyhawk Classic in October.

Similar to the previous season, senior Jake Erickson led the Salukis as well as the tournament. His 206 score in the three-round tournament tied with SIU-Edwardsville’s sophomore Colin McCarty. Erickson took the tiebreaker with a 68 in the final round of play.

Advertisement

Erickson said his whole game was up to par.

“I putted well the whole week, made those closer birdie puts that I needed to make and I hit my wedges good,” he said. “I hit six birdies in a row, too, and I don’t think I have ever done that before.”

His three-round score was good enough for third-best in school history. Fellow Saluki senior Brandon Cauldwell made history as well when he finished just one stroke behind Erickson. His 207 score tied him for fourth-best in school history for a 54-hole tournament.

However, Cauldwell said first place came down to the final hole.

“It was a pretty exciting finish,” he said. “We were all within a shot on the last hole of play. It was a par five and Jake made eagle, so did (McCarty) and I made par to finish it off.”

Erickson, McCarty and Cauldwell were all within one stroke of each other through the tournament’s first two rounds. However, Erickson’s historic third round was just enough to edge out both his teammate and opponent for the top spot.

Junior Caleb Harms’ 218 score was his lowest since the Jackrabbit Invitational, when the team split into two squads to play the Grover Page Intercollegiate and the Jackrabbit simultaneously. He finished tied for 30th overall.

Advertisement*

Senior Joe Goelzhauser’s first round score of 70 was his lowest so far this year and followed only Erickson and Cauldwell for the lowest first-round Saluki score. His final score of 220 is his lowest score of the season.

This was the Salukis’ final regular season tournament before the MVC Championships. Coach Leroy Newton said the strong finish is great preparation for conference play.

“This is really good for us to get ready for the conference tournament,” Newton said. “If we work hard and practice just a little bit on the things that we need to work on, we could have a really good Missouri Valley tournament.”

The Salukis will have to wait until April 29 for the start of the MVC Championship in Cape Girardeau, Mo.