Completed Event: Men's Golf at William H. Tucker Invitational on September 19, 2025 , , 7th of 18
M Golf
at William H. Tucker Invitational
7th of 18
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 26
Payson, Ariz. | Chaparral Pines
Grand Canyon
vs
WAC Championship
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Final putt makes Lopes back-to-back WAC champs
4/28/2024 7:03:00 PM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU rallies on back 9, takes title by 1 stroke over 2 teams on Kling's 18th-hole par
PAYSON, Ariz. – Grand Canyon men's golfers had finished 2,969 tournament holes over more than seven months before senior Nicky Kling stood over a 9-foot putt Sunday with all of the Lopes season's hopes and dreams at stake.
For the last group of the WAC Championship, a gallery that gathered around The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines' 18th green went as quiet as the surrounding pine forest until Kling's putt clanked in the cup bottom for a Lopes' championship roar.
GCU repeated as conference champions by rallying on the third round's back nine, wiping out a 10-stroke deficit to edge California Baptist and UT Rio Grande Valley by one stroke each. The Lopes' clutch finish sends them to their second NCAA regional.
"I was pretty calm," Kling said of his championship-winning putt. "I kind of knew I was going to make it."
"Let's goooo, that's so cool," teammate Tommaso Zorzetto said next to him.
Kling continued, "I wasn't going to let the boys down at the WAC There was no way I was losing this for everyone on this hole from the middle of the fairway with a wedge."
Kling's heroics topped a three-day, six-man GCU effort to finish 12 over par with two top individual finishers – Kling taking second place at 5 under par and Zorzetto tying for seventh place at 2 over par.
"Professionally, this has probably been the most stressful week of my life," Lopes head coach Mark Mueller said. "The guys came in as a heavy favorite and were expecting to win. As a coach, you want to put them in the best position possible and let them do their thing. They did it. I'm so proud of them and so happy for them."
GCU began Sunday one stroke off the lead with four teams only two strokes apart after Friday's and Saturday's rounds in Payson. California Baptist emerged with 10 birdies on the first five holes and UTRGV came from beyond that top four with the tournament's best round, a 2-under Sunday.
That applied the pressure to the Lopes, who trailed the lead by 10 strokes after making the turn on the 6,947-yard target course.
"At that point, it's, 'Alright, boys, we've got to take the gloves off and let's go," Mueller said.
The comeback started with junior Josh McCabe, put in Sunday's lineup for his first tourney action, sinking consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes. Soon after, Kling pivoted from a quiet start of eight consecutive pars to eagle the par-5 12th hole.
CBU and UTRGV finished in the pairings before GCU with all three teams tied. The Lopes kept it tied when freshman Gavin O'Neill canceled out McCabe's 18th-hole bogey by, like Kling, reaching the par-5 17th hole in two shots and carding a birdie.
Kling turned clutch on the final three holes in the last group, sinking a 15-foot par save and a short pitch on No. 16, dropping the birdie to give GCU a one-stroke lead on No. 17 and making the long two-putt at No. 18.
"I hit the tee shot on 18 in the same spot all three days," said Kling, a Scottsdale Chaparral High School graduate. "I bogyed the first two rounds and I told myself, 'I'm not going to do that again.' I hit it like 50 feet and then like 9 feet behind it. I was like, 'Not today,' and I made it."
Kling pointed to his teammates on a greenside hill and was met first by a Zorzetto airborne chest bump to celebrate a back-to-back team championship.
"I'm so proud of Nicky," said Zorzetto, the program's most-improved player from Padova, Italy. "He carried us all the way. It was really hard. We were never supposed to make it this hard. But I'm so proud of how we fought through. The resilience is incredible. Going back to back is fantastic."
GCU becomes the WAC's first back-to-back men's golf champion since Kansas City in 2019 despite one of the Lopes' top players, junior Sam Murphy, being injured for nearly all of the season. Mueller and assistant coach Mike Schaloum guided GCU to three tournament titles this season.
"I honestly think I might sleep for a week because I haven't slept in a week," Mueller said in his celebratory post-tournament purple Hawaiian shirt. "I'm just so overfilled with emotion and joy. Words can't describe this week and going back to back and what all these guys had to do. It took six of them to contribute, and they all did. To win by one is a testament to their fortitude. God is great."
For the last group of the WAC Championship, a gallery that gathered around The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines' 18th green went as quiet as the surrounding pine forest until Kling's putt clanked in the cup bottom for a Lopes' championship roar.
GCU repeated as conference champions by rallying on the third round's back nine, wiping out a 10-stroke deficit to edge California Baptist and UT Rio Grande Valley by one stroke each. The Lopes' clutch finish sends them to their second NCAA regional."I was pretty calm," Kling said of his championship-winning putt. "I kind of knew I was going to make it."
"Let's goooo, that's so cool," teammate Tommaso Zorzetto said next to him.
Kling continued, "I wasn't going to let the boys down at the WAC There was no way I was losing this for everyone on this hole from the middle of the fairway with a wedge."
Kling's heroics topped a three-day, six-man GCU effort to finish 12 over par with two top individual finishers – Kling taking second place at 5 under par and Zorzetto tying for seventh place at 2 over par.
"Professionally, this has probably been the most stressful week of my life," Lopes head coach Mark Mueller said. "The guys came in as a heavy favorite and were expecting to win. As a coach, you want to put them in the best position possible and let them do their thing. They did it. I'm so proud of them and so happy for them."
GCU began Sunday one stroke off the lead with four teams only two strokes apart after Friday's and Saturday's rounds in Payson. California Baptist emerged with 10 birdies on the first five holes and UTRGV came from beyond that top four with the tournament's best round, a 2-under Sunday.That applied the pressure to the Lopes, who trailed the lead by 10 strokes after making the turn on the 6,947-yard target course.
"At that point, it's, 'Alright, boys, we've got to take the gloves off and let's go," Mueller said.
The comeback started with junior Josh McCabe, put in Sunday's lineup for his first tourney action, sinking consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes. Soon after, Kling pivoted from a quiet start of eight consecutive pars to eagle the par-5 12th hole.
CBU and UTRGV finished in the pairings before GCU with all three teams tied. The Lopes kept it tied when freshman Gavin O'Neill canceled out McCabe's 18th-hole bogey by, like Kling, reaching the par-5 17th hole in two shots and carding a birdie.
Kling turned clutch on the final three holes in the last group, sinking a 15-foot par save and a short pitch on No. 16, dropping the birdie to give GCU a one-stroke lead on No. 17 and making the long two-putt at No. 18."I hit the tee shot on 18 in the same spot all three days," said Kling, a Scottsdale Chaparral High School graduate. "I bogyed the first two rounds and I told myself, 'I'm not going to do that again.' I hit it like 50 feet and then like 9 feet behind it. I was like, 'Not today,' and I made it."
Kling pointed to his teammates on a greenside hill and was met first by a Zorzetto airborne chest bump to celebrate a back-to-back team championship.
"I'm so proud of Nicky," said Zorzetto, the program's most-improved player from Padova, Italy. "He carried us all the way. It was really hard. We were never supposed to make it this hard. But I'm so proud of how we fought through. The resilience is incredible. Going back to back is fantastic."GCU becomes the WAC's first back-to-back men's golf champion since Kansas City in 2019 despite one of the Lopes' top players, junior Sam Murphy, being injured for nearly all of the season. Mueller and assistant coach Mike Schaloum guided GCU to three tournament titles this season.
"I honestly think I might sleep for a week because I haven't slept in a week," Mueller said in his celebratory post-tournament purple Hawaiian shirt. "I'm just so overfilled with emotion and joy. Words can't describe this week and going back to back and what all these guys had to do. It took six of them to contribute, and they all did. To win by one is a testament to their fortitude. God is great."
Players Mentioned
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