Braley takes 2nd at WAC Championship

Friday, April 29

Boulder City, Nev. / Boulder Creek

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg

4/29/2022 5:35:00 PM | Men's Golf

WAC LEADERBOARD

Junior's 7-under tourney helps Lopes finish 3rd in conference

By: Kellie Reynolds

BOULDER CITY, Nev. – Grand Canyon junior golfer Matthew Braley placed second at the WAC Championship, helping the youthful Lopes lineup finish third on Sunday just four strokes behind winner Abilene Christian and three strokes behind runner-up Sam Houston.

Matthew Braley and Brian Thornton Braley shot 7 under par in the three-round tournament after closing with a 2-under-par final round at Boulder City Golf Club, coming just two strokes shy of winner Nathan Cogswell of Seattle U. Braley, a native of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, shot below par in each round and shared the tournament lead at points of his final round on Sunday, when he sank six birdies to give him 16 birdies over the weekend.

Braley's effort marked a huge improvement from last season's conference tournament finish (tied for 14th) and one of the best WAC Championship performances in the Lopes' history, which includes medalist honors for Jake Chanen in 2019 and Vinnie Murphy in 2017.

GCU sophomore Craig Passmore and freshman Sam Murphy tied for 20th at 3 over par. Passmore matched his best score of par in his final round of play while Murphy matched his opening-round score of 3 over.

Freshman Matteo Cristoni stayed in 24th as he finished 1 over par in his final round of play.

In sophomore Nicky Kling's final round of play, he finished 3 over par and finished his two rounds at even.

Braley jumps into tie for 2nd; GCU trails by 6

Braley produced a 3-under score in his second round to jump two spots and tie for second place, trailing leader Alex Crouse of Abilene Christian by two. Braley opened his back nine Saturday by carding birdies on four of the first five holes.

Murphy also finished 3 under in his second round, moving up 15 spots and into a tie for 13th. Murphy is even after two rounds of play. Passmore also improved from his first round, as he finished Round 2 at par and moved into 24th. Cristoni, a freshman, finished 3 over par and fell 13 spots to tie with Passmore at 24th.

Kling substituted for the second round and produced a 3-under score to help the Lopes climb the leaderboard.

Braley, Cristoni lead team after 1 round

The Lopes finished Day 1 in fourth place, just one stroke behind third-place Abilene Christian and eight strokes behind tournament leader and favorite Sam Houston's 4-under-par score.

GCU put two golfers in the top 10 after the first of three rounds. Braley is tied for fourth with a score of 2 under par. Braley managed to score an eagle and four birdies. Cristoni tied for 10th after scoring an even par in his opening round.

Also, for GCU, Murphy and Passmore are tied for 28th after scoring 3 over par in the opening round. Murphy managed to score four birdies in his first round and Passmore dropped two birdies. Graduate Jacob Lackey finished the first round in a tie for 34th at 4 over par.