Knights move up to 7th in Golf World Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2013

                          

GOLF WORLD ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF MARCH 4 MEN’S NAIA COACHES’ POLL

Texas Wesleyan Claims Top Spot in Initial Spring 2013 Coaches’ Poll

(NEW YORK, NY)—The first Golf World/Nike Golf NAIA College Coaches’ Poll has been released, combining the resources of Golf World magazine, Nike Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). The complete results, including results from Divisions I, II, III and NJCAA will appear in the March 4, 2013 issue of Golf World and are live now: http://golfdig.st/fnmTj6

Texas Wesleyan, with eight of the 10 available first-place votes, held on to the No. 1 ranking in the first Golf World/Nike Golf men's NAIA coaches' poll of the spring. After winning three events in the fall, the rams opened the spring season with a second place finish at the Claude Jacobs Invitational.

Holding their spots at No. 2 and 3 in the poll are Oklahoma City, which received one first-place vote, and CSU-San Marcos. Bellevue at No. 4 and Lee at No. 5 rounded out the top five.

The other remaining first-place vote went to No. 13 Johnson & Wales.

Two new schools appeared in the top 10: No. 7 Northwood (Texas), winner at the Claude Jacobs, and No. 10 Our Lady of the Lake.

One new school joined the top 25: Cumberland, which tied for 23rd in the poll.

Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll

March 4, 2013 Issue

NAIA

Rank    Team                                                       Points   Last

1.            Texas Wesleyan (8)                           247            1

2.            Oklahoma City (1)                             239            2 

3.            CSU-San Marcos                                  217            3

4.            Bellevue                                                  185            5 

5.            Lee                                                             182            6

6.            U. of the Cumberlands                      176            4 

7.            Northwood (Texas)                           169            13

8.            Oklahoma Baptist                               168            9 

9.            The Master’s College                          163            8

10.          Our Lady of the Lake                         155            T-11 

11.          Coastal Georgia                                    151            10

12.          British Columbia                                 141            7

13.          Johnson & Wales (1)                         140            T-11

14.          Mount Mercy                                        107            14

15.          Wayland Baptist                                  91               21

16.          William Woods                                    90               16

17.          Lubbock Christian                              88               17

18.          Grand View                                            66               15

19.          Northwestern                                       57               18

20.          USC-Beaufort                                        56               19

                Southern Wesleyan                            56               23

22.          Lindsey Wilson                                    51               22

23.          Ashford                                                   44               20 

                Cumberland                                          44               NR

25.          St. Thomas (Fla.)                                 38               24

Also receiving votes: Marian U. (Indianapolis), 24; Northwood (Fla.), 22; Webber International, 21; Holy Cross, 11; Southwestern College, 10; Rogers State, 8; Southeastern, 8; Faulkner, 7; Lewis-Clark State, 6; SCAD Savannah, 4; Victoria, 4; Concordia (Ore.), 3; Texas-Brownsville, 1.Ambrose, 17; Carroll College (Mont.), 16; Bethel (Kan.), 14; Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 14; Union College, 13; Rogers State, 12; Reinhardt, 9; Rocky Mountain, 8; Southwestern, 8; St. Francis (Ill.), 8; Viterbo, 8; Oklahoma Baptist, 7; Southeastern, 7; Concordia University (Ore.), 6; Southern Wesleyan, 3; Lindsey Wilson, 2.

First-place votes in parenthesis.

Polls conducted by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Voting closed Feb. 22, 2013.

Knights Storm to Victory behind Gosling's Individual Title!

Your Northwood Knights stormed to victory in their first tournament of the spring season!

The tournament hosted by The University of Houston-Victoria at Victoria Country Club was attended by a host of ranked teams including Texas Wesleyan (1), Oklahoma City (2), CSU San-Marcos (3), Our Lady of the Lake (12), Grand View (16), Lubbock Christian (17) and Wayland Baptist (20).

Coach Belfield "This is the start of 3 tournaments in a row that are extremely strong. We are a program that loves to play the best tournaments with the best competition, this is certainly one of them!"

The First round started in chilly conditions and a stiff breeze and the Knights found themselves 3rd after a first round 298. Led by a stellar 72 by Joss Gosling, the Knights were in contention from the outset.
The Second round brought much higher scores as the wind picked up and temperature dropped.
The Knights grounded home a score of 310 to lie in 4th place overnight.

Coach Belfield "I was really proud of the way the guys fought today. The greens are tough at the best of times but they were simply brutal when combined with this wind. We didn't play great the second round but all the guys dug in for every shot, as a result we are 4 shots behind the leaders. It's going to be a fun round tomorrow!"

The Third round brought rain and even more wind! After a back and forth battle with a number of teams, the Knights finished too strong for the rest of the field to take victory by 3 strokes.
Joss Gosling led the tournament from start to finish for his first collegiate win!

Coach Belfield "Wow, what a day! To come here and beat the field we have is exceptional. I know this team is good but we are proving every time we play that we are as good as anybody in the nation. We really fought hard for the first 14 holes and we finished extremely well. This is the first one, we expect to play at the same/higher level for the rest of the season."

Led by Joss Gosling 1st (72-73-73), Carter Caldwell placed 17th with 74-80-74, Jeremy Novakowski & Derek Trofimczuk (T23rd & T28th 77-79-74 & 75-78-78) and Daniel Stoakes (T31st 77-81-74).

 

RESULTS!!!



Lady Knights break School Record......Again!

Your Lady Knights travelled to their second tournament of the year down in Victoria, Texas.

The tournament hosted by The University of Houston-Victoria and held at

The Club at Colony Creek.

Featuring No.2 ranked CSU-San Marcos, No.5 Oklahoma City & No.12  Wayland Baptist this shaped up to be an extremely strong NAIA tournament.

Coach Belfield "Coming off last weeks tournament and strong finish, I knew the girls were playing well. We just need to start scoring better! I am looking for 2 strong days and lots of low scores!"

Playing in blustery conditions the Lady Knights started with a 315 to lie in 4th place overnight. The Lady Knights were led by Freshman Laura Deleonardis who fired a 76, she was backed up by scores of 78, 80 & 81 by Fariza Zain, Esther Kang & Daniela Martinez. 

The second day brought fresh winds again which blew up to 30mph however led by a stellar 73 by Fariza Zain and backed up by 76 & 77 from Laura Deleonardis & Daniela Martinez, the Lady Knights turned in a new school record 306!!!

Coach Belfield "The girls actually played a whole lot better than we scored, we finished on some tough holes but all in all this is another great result! Anytime you can set a new record it always feels good!! This tournament however does show again the level that we need to be at in order to compete with the best teams. OCU blew us away and if we want to challenge at Nationals we need to get a whole lot better."

Led by Fariza Zain T4th with 78-73, Laura Deleonardis (T6th 76-76), Daniela Martinez (T23rd 81-77), Esther Kang (T27th 80-80) and Carol Galindo (T44th 91-84), the Lady Knights finished Tied 3rd for the Tournament.

 

RESULTS!!!

Knights & Lady Knights play No.1 Course in Texas!

The Knights and Lady Knights Golf teams were able to play the No.1 Rated Resort course in Texas last week.

Barton Creek in Austin, TX is currently rated inside the Top 10 courses in Texas, Top 150 courses in America and is the No.1 rated resort course in Texas.

Coach Belfield "I decided to split the journey to Victoria in 2, we were fortunate that Barton Creek let us play. It was a real privilege to play such a fantastic course. Great layout, very interesting & beautiful undulating greens, combine this with the stunning Hill Country scenery and all the players enjoyed a superb day out!!"

The 17th at Crenshaw Cliffside GC @ Barton Creek Resort

Lady Knights play Torrey Pines!

Whilst at the Point Loma San Diego Championship, the Lady Knights were lucky enough to play the World famous, World renowned golf course, Torrey Pines!!

Whilst it is always a treat to be able to play such a golf course, it is even more so because the PGA Tour was at Torrey just 2 weeks before the event!

It was great to be able to step into the famous holes and beautiful setting of Torrey Pines, knowing a lot of the history of the course!

A real treat for the myself and the girls!!

 

 

Lady Knights finish 5th in Top DII event!

Your Lady Knights ventured to San Diego, California for the Super San Diego Championship hosted by DII Point Loma Nazarene at Riverwalk GC.

Featuring 8 Top 32 DII schools this was one of the strongest tournaments of the year and a chance for the Lady Knights to compete against some of the Top Western teams.

Coach Belfield "Riverwalk is a great golf course with fast smooth greens. This should suit us perfectly seen as though Thorntree's are very similar! The Girls have had a great week of practice and are all feeling confident.....its going to be fun!!"

The Ladies started off in serene, if a little chilly condition which toughened up considerably towards the end of the round.

The Lady Knights posted a score of 336 led by Freshman Fariza Zain's 77, the Lady Knights struggled significantly in the wind and on the greens and placed 11th out of 21 teams.

Coach Belfield "Really disappointing round from the ladies because we seemed to lose confidence on the greens and our approach shots were not great. We managed to dig in though and post something of a score......needless to say, we are looking forward to fight back tomorrow!"

The second round started bright and early, the ladies in even more perfect conditions than Day 1 came out firing! They posted a much more solid and 'Knight like' 311 which was one behind the best score of the day.

Led again by Fariza Zain's 76, she was backed up by teammates Laura Deleonardis (77), Esther Kang (78) and Daniela Martinez (80).

Coach Belfield "This was more like it! The scary part is that we finished very poorly for this score. It again shows that when we play well we are as good as anybody in the nation. We ended up 5th in the tournament and we beat a number of Top ranked DII schools, which again shows our strength against anybody in the NCAA. I was really pleased to see Fariza play well and am looking forward to seeing her go much lower!

All in all, this was a great way to start the year!"

Led by Fariza Zain T4th with 77-76, Laura Deleonardis (15th 82-77), Daniela Martinez (T51st 90-80), Esther Kang (T56th 84-92) and Junior Carol Galindo (T62nd 87-85).

RESULTS!!

Knights sign local standout!

Head Coach Ben Belfield would like to announce the signing of

Brandon Washington for the 2013/14 season.

Brandon is from Duncanville, Texas and was a graduate of Duncanville High School.

He started his collegiate career at the

University of North Texas which has a highly regarded program.

He has played in almost all of the top Texas amateur tournaments and was part of one of the most successful high school teams in the DFW area.

 

Coach Belfield "Brandon is a superb ball striker, he is smart and mature on the golf course. He is someone that thinks his way round as well as uses his talent to get the ball in the hole.

Coming from a big Division I program should help him manage his time and become a leader on this team.

I am looking forward to seeing & helping Brandon develop his

full potential over the coming years!"

 

Knights sign 3 time State Champion!

Head Coach Ben Belfield would like to announce the signing of

Austin Hunt for the 2013/14 season.

Austin is from Hot Springs, Arkansas and is a 3 time State Champion at

Lakeside High School.

Austin has played in a number of national qualifiers including US Open sectionals and has a career low score of 64.

Coach Belfield "I am extremely pleased to have signed Austin. He is one of the most driven, hungry and passionate prospects I have met in a while!

I firmly believe that I have found someone that can go as low as he wants, whenever he wants.

Austin has shown that he can compete at a high level. The competition & high expectations we have here as Knights Golfers will do nothing but help Austin develop into the golfer we believe he can be!
I look forward to seeing how much he can get out of himself over the next 4 years!"

 

 

Knights ink Top International for 2013/14 class!

Head Coach Ben Belfield would like to announce the signing of

Dennis Andersen for the 2013/14 season.

Dennis hails from Denmark and is a transfer from Paris Junior College, where he enjoyed one of the best Freshman years in their history.

Dennis averaged 73.9, Won regionals, came second at State and was a National Championship qualifier.
He was also a Ping First team All-American.

Dennis has lots of international experience and has played in a number of top amateur tournaments.

 

Coach Belfield "Standing tall at 6ft 4" Dennis has the potential to be an All-American and make a significant difference at Northwood. His swing is powerful and technically sound, taking advantage of his length is where Dennis will separate himself from the crowd.

I am looking forward to seeing how low he can go at Northwood!!!"

Team Day Out at No.1 rated golf course in Texas!

The Knights and Lady Knights enjoyed a day out at the No.1 rated 9 hole golf course in Texas,

Starrhollow GC.

Starrhollow has been rated the No.1 9 hole course in Texas for the last 16 years and is ranked as the No.9 in America.

The players enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, camaraderie and the now legendary burgers!

Playing in all different formats, including sixsomes!

Coach Belfield "Being able to come out to the peacefulness and serenity of Starrhollow is a privilege we have been able to enjoy once before. It is the most peaceful golf course I have ever been to! We enjoyed different games, played in sixsomes and enjoyed one of the best burgers in the world! All in all a fantastic team day out before we get to our first tournament".

Our thanks go to Rayegene Cable for being able to get us out to Starrhollow.