Diehl dominates, wins Desert Mountain Intercollegiate medal

Saturday, March 8

Desert Mountain Outlaw | Scottsdale, Ariz.

Grand Canyon

Desert Mountain Intercollegiate

Photo by: Jayden Todd

Diehl dominates, wins Desert Mountain Intercollegiate medal

3/9/2025 5:44:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results

Lopes place 3rd with 3 players in top 25 in quality 17-team field

By: Nick Macdonald

Freshman Matthew Diehl is competing in his first collegiate season at Grand Canyon, yet his results week in and week out show why and how he can perform among the best players in the country.

Diehl took home the individual title at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Scottsdale on Sunday, carding a 14-under, 54-hole score with a 68/65/69 score line. Diehl finished five shots ahead of a pair of second-place finishers and played better this weekend than eight players ranked in he Clippd Scoreboard Division I top 120.

Diehl entered with a ranking of 136 and will see that number improve after making a field-best 18 birdies and scoring 8 under on par-4 holes.

Grand Canyon placed third at 5 under, finishing the 17-team event as one of three teams with an under-par total. GCU trailed only No. 27 Mississippi State, the champion, and No. 10 Utah, the runner-up, and outplayed No. 48 Kansas by 14 strokes and Minnesota by eight shots.

Three Lopes placed in the top 25, including Diehl's first-place finish and graduate Tommaso Zorzetto (20th) and senior Kiko Coelho (24th). GCU and the rest of the field played roughly 27 holes Sunday in a tournament that was delayed due to Friday's rain in the Valley. The first round and half of the second was completed Saturday before darkness halted play.

Diehl carded two birdies to conclude his second round Sunday morning, finishing a bogey-free second that also saw an eagle on hole No. 9. Through his first 10 holes of his third round, Diehl had six birdies to go 4 under, with a double bogey on the par-5 13th, his only bogey-plus hole in 54 holes played. He finished the tournament with 30 pars, 18 birdies, one eagle, 4 bogeys and one double bogey.

Zorzetto shot 1 under with five birdies in the final round for his best round score of the weekend. Coelho had the best third round of the starting five, going 4 under with six birdies. Coelho had 12 birdies for his tournament and moved up 21 spots for the top-25 showing.

GCU sophomore Gavin O'Neill tied for 42nd at 9 over with a 1-over final round, followed by freshman Campbell Kerr in 67th at 16 over in his first collegiate event.

Lopes junior Antonio Bulgheroni, an individual entry, jumped 26 spots into a tie for 24th with Coelho. Bulgheroni made six birdies and only bogey once over his final 18 holes.

GCU resumes action quickly with the two-day GCU Invitational at the GCU Golf Course on Tuesday and Wednesday. First- and second-round action will play Tuesday, followed by third and final-round action Wednesday morning. Both days will begin with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.