Lopes notch 9th straight top-10 finish

Monday, March 31

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes | Maricopa, Ariz.

Grand Canyon

Cowboy Classic

4/1/2025 3:55:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

GCU cards 3-under socre to place 9th at Cowboy Classic

By: Nick Macdonald

MARICOPA, Ariz. – Grand Canyon concluded the final day of the Cowboy Classic at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club on Tuesday, finishing the second round and playing through windy conditions over the course of the third round.

GCU garnered ninth place with a 3-under-par score, recording its ninth consecutive top-10 finish this season. Four WAC teams competed in the 23-team field in Maricopa, and GCU outplayed Utah Valley (9 over), UT Arlington (29 over) and Southern Utah (43 over) with the WAC Championship upcoming on April 25-27 in Payson.

Long Beach State took home the team trophy at 37 under, followed by Iowa State (23 under) in second and San Diego and Wichita State (21 under) tied for third. All teams completed their second round prior to the third round beginning Tuesday after darkness halted play on Monday.

Senior Kiko Coelho led the Lopes at 5 under, tying for 11th out of 120 golfers. Coelho shot 1 under over his final 18 with four birdies and tied with sophomore teammate Gavin O'Neill for most birdies on the team for the tournament (12).

O'Neill, who was paired with Coelho for the final round, finished tied for 26th at 2 under, registering a team-best third round score of 3 under par. O'Neill had five birdies in the final round, and had a stretch of three birdies and three pars through holes 3-8.

GCU graduate Tommaso Zorzetto went 4 over for the tournament, tallying five birdies over his final 18 holes. Zorzetto's consistency through his first nine holes (the course's back nine) was off, but the veteran leader showed why he has been one of the best golfers in the WAC over the last two years with a team-best 3 under front nine that included four birdies over a seven-hole stretch.

Freshman duo Matthew Diehl and Nixon Lauritzen each tied for 62nd at 5 over par. Lauritzen had three birdies to total seven in his final two rounds, and Diehl finished the tournament with the most pars of any golfer with 42.

GCU had the third most pars of any team (175) and finished middle of the pack with 47 birdies.

The Lopes have one regular-season tournament remaining on their schedule with the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate on April 11-12 at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix. GCU then heads to Payson, where it will look to defend its WAC Championship title for the third consecutive year and second straight time at Chaparral Pines Golf Club on April 25-27.