No. 15 Tech Tops Championship-Level Field In Hawaii

Thursday, February 2

Waikiloa Kings Course, Kona, Hawaii

Texas Tech Athletics

Amer Ari Collegiate

No. 15 Tech Tops Championship-Level Field In Hawaii

February 04, 2017 | Men's Golf

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Texas Tech polishes off impressive tourney win behind school record performance from Nilehn

By: Texas Tech Athletics Communications

KONA, Hawaii -- Behind a school-record performance from Fredrik Nilehn on Saturday, the No. 15 Texas Tech men's golf team took home the team and individual titles in impressive fashion at the Amer Ari Invitational, at the Waikoloa Kings Course.

The Red Raiders finished at 44-under par, eight shots clear of No. 7 USC and 18 shots ahead of third-place No. 20 Oregon. Tech finished more than 20 shots clear of the following: No. 6 Stanford, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Texas, No. 12 Auburn and No. 25 Georgia Tech. It marked the 18th team tournament title under Tech head coach Greg Sands.

"It was incredible," Sands said. "We played great one-through-five. I think the highest score we had all week was an even-par 72, so we pretty much had red numbers all week. I'm super proud of the guys. They worked hard, and this is a preview of what's to come."

The Red Raiders entered the final round trailing USC by a shot, and quickly retook the lead in the first few holes. Tech kept the Trojans at arms-length until USC was able to move into a tie atop the leaderboard (-36) with a few holes to go. From there, however, the Red Raiders slammed the door.

Nilehn birdied 13 and Federico Zucchetti birdied 14 to push Tech ahead. Then Nilehn and Hannes Ronneblad (-8) each birdied 17. On 18, Ronneblad and Zucchetti birdied again, and Nilehn dropped an eagle 3, which proved to be the death knell in the team race and pulled him into a three-way playoff for the individual title.

That putt also polished off a 16-under 200 on the weekend for Nilehn, which is a Tech individual school record for 54 holes.

Nilehn then rolled home an 18-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to outlast USC's Rico Hoey and Arizona State's Jared duToit for the individual crown, the 20th won under Sands. Nilehn, in just his first season at Tech, has already become only the ninth Red Raider to win multiple tournament titles, after claiming the Carmel Cup title this fall.

"It feels great," Nilehn said. "I came off an injury in December and had to work really hard, so it feels great to be back in the winners' circle. Not only that, but it was a great week. To win here as a team made it fun for all of us. I'm excited for this semester ."

All seven Red Raiders, including Sandy Scott (-4, T27) and Hayden Springer (-3, T33), who competed as individuals, finished under par for the weekend. Joining Nilehn and Zucchetti (-11, T5) in the top 15 individually were Hannes Ronneblad and Ivan Ramirez, who finished tied for 13th at 8-under. Hurly Long tied for 27th and 4-under.

Tech recorded 18 par or better rounds over the weekend, bringing their total to 44 such rounds in just four events this season, dating back to the fall slate.

Tech returns to action Feb. 17-19 in the Desert Classic, at the Classic Club in Palm Springs, Calif. Fans can keep up with the Red Raiders by following @TTUMensGolf on Twitter.

That's how you start the 2017 season! The Red Raiders close out Coach @Sandsman14's 18th tourney win in near wire-to-wire fashion! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/qAzbV2QwXM
— Texas Tech Mens Golf (@TTUMensGolf) February 4, 2017

BOOM!! Freddy drains the 15 footer for the individual victory! Topping off a great week for the Red Raiders! pic.twitter.com/sGkfuvJWMY
— Texas Tech Mens Golf (@TTUMensGolf) February 5, 2017