SAU Sports Information
The Southern Arkansas Mulerider golf team has been picked to finish in fifth place in the 2016 spring championship season as voted on by the league's head coaches according to conference headquarters on Wednesday morning.
The Muleriders received 45 points; a single point ahead of sixth-place Southern Nazarene (44) and five points ahead of Arkansas-Monticello and Harding (40), which were picked in a tie for seventh-place. East Central (19) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (10) rounded out the poll. Southwestern Oklahoma State received the top spot with 90 points and nine first-place votes, while Southeastern Oklahoma State was picked second with 74 points and the remaining two first-place votes. Third-place Arkansas Tech (72) and fourth-place Henderson State (71) fill in the middle of the poll.
Last spring the Muleriders finished in a tie for seventh place at the Great American Conference Championships in Hot Springs, but recorded three top-three finishes during the season, including a first-place finish at the Mulerider Spring Classic.
Top returners for the program, under first-year head coach Ben Sanders, include a trio of seniors in George Adams, Jacob Etherington and Kirk Peterson.
Adams placed third individually at the Linda Lowery Invitational last February after carding a two-round total of +10 (154), while also recording a +9 (225) as SAU's top golfer at the Wallace Jones Invitational last March. His best performance of the year came at the SAU-hosted Mulerider Spring Classic as he finished as the top individual in the two round event (+7-151).
Etherington finished in SAU's top-three three times last spring, including a +1 (72) at the SAU/UAM duel to capture the individual title. He also shot a day two +2 (74) on the second day of the Bear Bank Invitational to finish in a fifth-place tie with Adams as both led the Muleriders to a third-place finish.
For Peterson, he saved his best performance for last as he finished fourth as an individual in the 2015 GAC Championships as he carded a +1 (217); the lowest three-round score by a Mulerider in the program's GAC Championship history. Earlier in the season, the All-GAC Tournament performer produced a top-five finish at the Mulerider Spring Classic; placing third overall with a +11 (155). In the 2015 fall season, he garnered the GAC's Men's Golfer Award for the month of October.
Southern Arkansas concluded the fall season on a high note, finishing first at the Ranger Fall Invitational, hosted by Northwestern Oklahoma State. The program will open up their 2016 season at Arkansas Tech's David Falconer Golf Classic on March 7-8. They will compete three more times after their season-opening weekend, before the 2016 GAC Championships on April 24-26.