MONTGOMERY – Nicke Kaajavirta finished in the top 30 for the East Texas A&M University men's golf team as the Lions finished 11^th at the Bentwater Intercollegiate, hosted by Sam Houston, at the Bentwater Country Club this week. 
 
"I was proud to see the guys compete today and fight through some adverse weather," said Director of Golf Brian Dolehide. "Unfortunately, with the mistakes we made yesterday we set ourselves too far back. Need to get back to work and get ready for New Orleans!" 
 
Kaajavirta (Kajaani, Finland) shot a 76 in the final round to total a score of 220 (68-76-76), finishing in a seven-way tie for 28^th. Cooper Watt (Rockford, Ill.) finished in a four-way tie for 54^th with a score of 225 (73-72-80). 
 
Sam Benson (Gilmer – New Diana) took 58^th with a score of 226 (76-72-78) and Janis Erll (Lich, Germany) placed in a three-way tie for 63^rd with a score of 229 (79-74-76). Matt Walters (Ballito, South Africa) was 72^nd with a score of 235 (79-77-79). 
 
The Lions finished 11^th as a team with a score of 899 (296-294-309), nine strokes back of Tarleton. Chattanooga edged out Sam Houston by one stroke for the team title, totaling 805 strokes. The Mocs' Ethan Whitaker and Braedon Wear tied for the individual medal, both posting a score of 208 each. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lions return to action in two weeks at the Gulf Coast Collegiate in Algiers, Louisiana, on February 24-25.
 

Pos.	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
1	Chattanooga	292	273	285	850
2	Sam Houston	278	277	296	851
3	Midland College	286	273	303	862
4	Abilene Christian	289	274	301	864
5	Central Arkansas	283	278	313	874
6	UIW	289	288	298	875
7	SFA	290	282	307	879
8	Southeastern	282	290	308	880
9	HCU	296	285	304	885
10	Tarleton	295	286	307	888
11	EAST TEXAS A&M	296	294	309	899
12	UT Arlington	306	295	319	920
13	Prairie View A&M	303	304	322	929
14	Texas Southern	305	310	315	930

 

11	EAST TEXAS A&M	296	294	309	899
T28	Nicke Kaajavirta	68	76	76	220
T55	Cooper Watt	73	72	80	225
58	Sam Benson	76	72	78	226
63	Janis Erll	79	74	76	229
72	Matt Walters	79	77	79	235