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Sep 22, 2009
RiverHawks Finish Second; Boswell Wins Medalist
BROKEN ARROW - Northeastern State University's Josh Boswell defeated Central Missouri University's Justin Yoder in a one-hole playoff to win medalist honors in the Northeastern State University Men's Golf Classic at Emerald Falls Golf & Country Club Tuesday.
Central Missouri captured the team championship by 11-strokes over second place Northeastern State. The Mules finished at 595 after rounds of 298 and 297.
The RiverHawks shot 606 with rounds of 310-296. The first round was completed Tuesday morning after Monday's round was suspended due to inclement weather.
Boswell and Yoder played the 36 holes in 142, 2-under par for the tournament, before the Wagoner junior, parred the 37th hole to get the victory.
"I credit this win to Sam Powell (former Northeastern State golfer, now graduate assistant) for helping me realize my putting stroke, that got it done,'' said Boswell. "I hit the ball really well. But the putting got me the win in this tournament.
"To get into the playoff and then beat such a good player (Justin Yoder) was a big honor too."
Boswell gave all the credit to Powell on the playoff hole for his victory.
"Sam helped me read it and I trusted the line. I read it and it went in. All you have to do is read, hit and it'll go in the hole,'' said Boswell, adding, "You just don't think about."
Northeastern State coach Scott Varner was pleased with the play of Boswell and his playoff victory.
"Josh has shown his potential for two years and we've talked about it," said Varner.
"He's as good as anybody in this region. He's got the talent. Its been there since he's been a freshman. He's needed some maturity and literally, he just needed to win a golf tournament," said Varner, adding, "He absolutely did that today (Tuesday). I'm really proud of Josh Boswell."
Following Northeastern in the 15-team field was St. Mary's, Texas 609, Grand Canyon, Ariz., Missouri Southern tied for fourth at 611 and Our Lady of the Lake of San Antonio, Texas finished sixth at 616.
Other RiverHawks scores were Brady Wood (80-72) 152, Jacob Bartel (78-78) 156, Kyle Fouts (83-75) 158, Jordan Perceful (81-79) 160.
Concerning the RiverHawks' play in the tournament, Varner said, "Central Missouri is a great team. They have been to the national tournament three straight years.
"You spot a team that many shots (12 in the opening round) its hard to overcome, and we learned that valuable lesson.
"We had the low round of the day (296) on our home course and you should expect that. But you have to be consistent over the whole tournament. You don't win the tournament in the first round but you can sure lose it.
"But I was proud of the way our kids competed from top to bottom, " said Varner.
Northeastern State will return to action on Sept. 28-29 in the St. Mary's University Rattler Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.