ALLENDALE, Mich. - Florida Southern senior Tim Crouch entered the final round of the NCAA Division II National Championships on Wednesday at the Meadows at Grand Valley State sitting just three shots off of the leader and by the time the third and final round of stroke play was concluded, Crouch had caught and passed the second round leader, Nova Southeastern's Santiago Gomez en route to shooting a final round 68 and claiming his second consecutive national championship.
When Crouch, who entered the final round sitting a tie for sixth place after carding a second round score of 71, finished his round a little bit before 4:30 on Wednesday, he was sitting atop the leaderboard after recording an even-par 213 for 54 holes. The defending national champion was one shot in front of both Gomez and Barry's Adam Svensson. Gomez had completed just nine holes on the day at that time and Svensson had made it through 14 holes when Crouch completed his final round.
"Today was a lot of mental focus. I knew it wasn't going to be easy so I went out and just played my game," Crouch said after completing his round. "If I got into trouble, I got it back in play and relied on my wedge game and my putting. Today, it came through for me."
Svensson closed his final round with a three-under 68 to finish the tournament with a one-over 214 for 54 holes, while Gomez, who moved back into a tie for the lead after recording an eagle on No. 14 and a birdie on No. 15, would close out his final round by bogeying the final two holes to finish the day with a two-over 73 and push his 54 hole total to two-over 215. Svensson would finish as the national runner-up, while Gomez came in third place after being the leader after 36 holes.
In his final round on Wednesday, Crouch, who shot a three-over par 74 in Monday's first round, opened by shooting a two-under par 34 on the front nine as he carded three birdies and scored a bogey on the par 3, No. 7 hole, before shooting a one-under 34 on the back nine as he had eight pars and birdied the par 3, No. 17 hole. Ironically, that was the only birdie Crouch recorded on the back nine the entire tournament. It was that birdie that gave Crouch the lead that ultimately led to him becoming just the third Division II men's golfer to win back-to-back national titles.
"I felt a big rush after I made that (birdie putt on No. 17) putt. I knew it was a big putt and I wanted to make sure I got it to the hole," said Crouch when asked about sinking that birdie putt at No. 17 to take the lead. "I put a good stoke on it and Coach (Gordin) came up there with me to put me in a good mindset."
For the tournament, Crouch, who is a native of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, played the front nine of the Meadows in five-under par and played the back nine of the 7,034-yard course at Grand Valley State University in five-over par. He recorded nine birdies, 10 bogeys and 36 pars on his scorecard.
"It was a gutsy round, because he missed five or six greens and shot a 68. Usually, if you hit 12 greens, you don't shoot 68," Moccasin head coach Doug Gordin said. "He just hung in there, chipped one in (on No. 8), he missed a two-footer on (No. 7) and came back and birdied the next hole. That is experience. That's why he won last year.
"Today was one of the best rounds I've ever seen him play in terms of how he handled himself, because it was not his best ball striking round."
With his second straight national championship, Crouch, who played as an individual qualifier at this year's D-II National Championships, joins Briny Baird of Valdosta State and Jeff Leonard of Tampa as the only D-II golfers to claim back-to-back titles. In addition, Cal State-Chico's J.J. Jakovac also claimed two national titles as he won in both 2002 and 2004. Baird won his back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, while Leonard won his titles in 1987 and 1988.
Florida Southern has now had an individual win an national championship eight times in school history, which is the most overall individual national title medalists in D-II history. FSC's other national champions in men's golf besides Crouch (2013 and 2014) are Tom Gleeton (1979), Tom Patri (1981), Lee Janzen (1986), Matt Saglio (1999), Jeff Klauk (2000) and Steve Sokol (2001).
Crouch's round of 68 was tied for the lowest round of the day as Svensson, Nova Southeastern's Ricardo Celia and Saint Leo Ryan Gendron also shot three-under par for the round. In addition to the 68, Nova Southeastern's Oscar Lengden shot a two-under 69 on Wednesday as did Simon Fraser's Mike Belle and Barry's Scott Smyers.
None of the 108 golfers in the field shot under par for the entire tournament on the Meadows Course at Grand Valley State and only one, Crouch, shot even-par during the stroke play portion of the tournament.
In addition to Crouch, Svensson and Gomez, Celia finished fourth as he shot a three-over 216 for 54 holes, while Chico State's Alistair Dochtery, St. Edwards' Dillon Van Essen and Chico State's Justin Wyles all finished tied for fifth as they shot four-over 217's for 54 holes.
In the team standings, Nova Southeastern sits atop the leaderboard and earns the No. 1 seed in Thursday's match/medal round. The Sharks, who carded a three-under 281 in the final round, finished stroke play with an 11-over team score of 863. Barry, who is the defending D-II National Champion, earned the No. 2 seed in match/medal play, after carding a four-under 280 in the final round and push its 54 hole total to 877. Chico State, who was No. 2 on the leaderboard after Tuesday's second round, fell one spot to third after shooting a 292 in the final round to push its 54 hole total to 881.
The other teams that qualified for Thursday's match/medal play are Central Missouri and Malone, who each tied for fourth with an 890, while Lynn finished sixth with an 893. Cal State-Monterey Bay and Indiana (Pa.) both tied for seventh and will advance to the medal/match play round as they both shot 895's for 54 holes. Â
Wednesday marked the final collegiate round of golf for Crouch, who will return to Lakeland this coming fall to complete the requirements for his degree in physical education, before turning professional after he graduates in December. The win on Wednesday was Crouch's fifth career tournament victory as a Moccasin and his second consecutive this season as he took home medalist honors at the South/Southeast Super Regional at Savannah (Ga.) Quarters Golf Club in early May to earn one of two qualifying spots from the super regional in the national championships.
"You play every year just to win one of these (the national championship), and I won two of them," Crouch added. "It means a lot to me, my coach, my family and the program.â€
Click here for live hole-by-hole scoring of the NCAA Division II National Championships
Click here for the recap of the Division II National Championships written by Zach Dirlam from Grand Valley State
