Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.-  Junior Brandon Mihalo (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Holy Names Catholic) finished third overall and led Saint Francis to a tie for seventh at the NEC Championships held at the LPGA Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

Mihalo finished three-over par for the tournament, four shots behind individual champion Anton Frondelius from Wagner. Mihalo shot a final round 78 on Sunday, highlighted by 13 pars including a string of seven in a row. Mihalo made his mark by playing the par-4s at even par through the 72 hole tournament, tops in the field, his 40 pars also were tied for best in the tournament. 

The low round for the Red Flash on Sunday went to Austin Renz (Danville, Pa./Danville) who secured a top-10 finish with a Sunday 75, moving him into a tie for seventh overall at +10 for the tournament. Renz carved up the back nine, playing the final nine holes at two-under par to secure the 75. Renz birdied the par-4 13th and closed the tournament with a birdie on the par-4 18th. His even-par play on the par-3s for the three-day tournament were tops for best in the field and his two-under play on the par-5s were third best. 

Hunter Shields (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) finished in 39th for the Red Flash after a Sunday 82. Shields had three birdies on the day, carding a birdie on a par of par-5s, the 8th and 16th, and the par-4 sixth hole. The three birdies on the day gave him six for the tournament, second most on the team behind Renz who had seven. Dominic Stevens and Ben Morgret (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) rounded out the scoring for the Red Flash, they finished in 41st and 42nd, respectfully after a 90 and 86 on the final day. Stevens carded nine pars on his round Sunday, giving him 24 for the tournament. Morgret birdied a pair of par-5s on Sunday, the second and the 14th to highlight his round. Morgret finished the tournament with four birdies and handled the par-5s well, playing them at plus-two overall for the tourney. 

As a team, the Red Flash shot a team score of 321 to finish with a three-day score of 940, tying them with Sacred Heart for seventh overall. Bryant ran away with the team championship, finishing 26 shots better than Fairleigh Dickinson, who finished in second. 



ROUND 2 RECAP
Junior Brandon Mihalo (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Holy Names Catholic) continues to lead at the NEC Championships after his one-under 71 on day two has him at three-under for the tournament and is the only player under par heading into Sunday's final round. 

The junior was strong yet again on Saturday, posting two birdies and a bogey to go along with 15 pars on the day. Mihalo carded a birdie on the par-5 eighth and the par-4 17th in his Saturday round. A bogey on 10 was his only blemish on the round, but the Ontario native leads the tournament with stellar par-4 play, playing them at four-under through 36 holes while his 27 pars are tied for the tournament lead. 

A solid round of 74 from Austin Renz (Danville, Pa./Danville) has him in a tie for 10th overall and gives SFU two golfers in the top-10 overall. Renz had four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey in the second round. Renz diced up the par-5s on Saturday, playing them at two-under on the round. His two-under on Saturday places him amongst the tourney leaders in par 5 play and his five birdies have him tied for third most. 

The big mover for the Red Flash was Hunter Shields (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) who knocked 10 shots off his Friday round to shoot 78 on Saturday. Shields had two birdies on the round and played the back nine at even par. He moved up four spots to a tie for 38th with the strong second round. Dom Stevens (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) is in a tie for 36th and posted his second-straight 82 on Saturday. Stevens posted a pair of birdies, both on par-5s on Saturday en route to the 82. Ben Morgret (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) is in 42nd after a Saturday 87, he posted a birdie and four pars on his Saturday round. 

The Red Flash used "moving day" to their advantage, besting Friday's round by nine shots in posting a team score of 305. As a result, the moved up to a tie for fourth with Central Connecticut heading into Sunday's final round. 






ROUND 1 RECAP

Junior Brandon Mihalo (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Holy Names Catholic) shot a two-under 70 is amongst the leaders as SFU sits tied for sixth overall after day one of the NEC Championships.
 
The junior shot his lowest round of the season to start the three-day tournament. The Ontario native played a strong opening nine holes, with eight pars and a birdie on the par-4 fourth hole. Mihalo played the par-4s on Friday at four-under par, the best mark of the day. Birdies on 10 and 11 on the back nine got him to three-under on the round. He gave shots back with his lone two bogeys on the day at 15 and 16 before closing strong with a birdie on the 18^th to close out the two-under round.
 
Austin Renz (Danville, Pa./Danville) is tied for 13^th overall after closing out Friday's round at five-over after a 77 on Friday. Renz was solid throughout the round, carding 13 pars. The junior started the round with five-straight pars before a birdie on six got him to one-under and the Danville native made the turn at one-over. Renz carded seven more pars on the back nine but double bogeys on 10 and 17 placed him at four-over on the back nine and five-over for the day.
 
Dominic Stevens checked in third for the Red Flash and sits in a tie for 29th after an opening round 82. Stevens got off to a hot start, going par-birdie-par on his first three holes. The Ebensburg native kept the strong play going throughout the front nine, making the turn after a three-over 39. The sophomore had two double bogeys on the back nine, but responded nicely both times, with par on the next hole as he closed the back nine with a 43, giving him the first-day 82. Also scoring for the Red Flash are Benjamin Morgret (85, 40th) and Hunter Shields (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) (88, T-42). Morgret played a strong front nine, highlighted by a birdie on six and four pars and added four more pars on the back nine. Shields had nine pars and a birdie in his opening round.
 
As a team, the Red Flash shot a team score of 314 and are part of a logjam in the middle of the NEC leader board. SFU sits just two behind LIU for fifth and nine behind FDU as there are just nine shots that separate second through seventh. The Red Flash will tee it up on Saturday morning for day two of the championships held at the LPGA Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Florida.