Lopes vie for WAC Championship title

Friday, April 29

Boulder City, Nev. / Boulder Creek

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

4/28/2022 1:45:00 PM | Men's Golf

GCU heads to Nevada as conference coaches' runner-up pick

By: Kellie Reynolds

Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 1 \| WAC Championship \| Boulder City, Nevada

	GRAND CANYON LOPES	at	WAC CHAMPIONSHIP

Course information: Boulder City Golf Course • Leaderboard: View

The Grand Canyon men's golf team takes on the WAC Championship in Boulder City, Nevada, at the Boulder City Golf Course for a three-day, three-round tournament.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SIX LOPES: The Lopes will roll out the same six from their last weekend. Freshmen Matteo Cristoni and Sam Murphy will make the trip, along with sophomores Nicky Kling and Craig Passmore, junior Matthew Braley and graduate student Jacob Lackey. The Lopes have not declared their alternate yet, as only five Lopes will be allowed to compete.
PICKED SECOND: GCU was picked second, garnering two of the 12 first-place votes and totaling 84 points. The Lopes came in behind Sam Houston. which received 10 first-place votes to finish with 100 points, and were ahead of defending champion New Mexico State's 74 points in third place.
TWO WINS AND TWO TOP-FIVE FINISHES: The Lopes have won two tournaments this year, including the GCU Invitational and the UCSB Collegiate. They have also produced two other top-five finishes in their 10-tournament schedule.

WAC CHAMPIONSHIP

The tournament's field includes Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Chicago State, Dixie State, GCU, Lamar, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, Seattle U, Stephen F. Austin, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley. The tournament will consist of three 18-hole rounds, being played on three days. Boulder City Golf Course is a par-72, 7,482-yard course.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes closed out regular-season play at the El Macero Classic. GCU finished the tournament 17 strokes behind the winner, Fresno State, and just three strokes behind WAC opponent Seattle U.

GCU had two players finish in the top 25 at El Macero Country Club. Junior Matthew Braley was the Lopes top scorer, as he tied for 12th with a score of 3 under par to keep GCU in 11th place.

In his final round of play, Braley finished 1 under and totaled five birdies, including back-to-back ones on the fourth and fifth holes. Kansas native Jacob Lackey moved up eight spots to finish the tournament tied for 25th with a score of 2 over par. Lackey got better as the classic went on, finishing a 1-under-par final round.

Cristoni and Passmore tied for 30th and moved up three spots, as they both shot even par in their final rounds to finish 3 over par.

Murphy made huge improvements in his final round, moving up 17 places with a 1-under-par round. Kling fell eight spots after scoring 3 over par in his last round of the El Macero Classic.