FORT SMITH, Ark.—The Southern Nazarene University Men's Golf team wrapped up their 2024-25 campaign on Wednesday afternoon at the Great American Conference Championships in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The 2025 GAC Championships took place at the Hardscrabble Country Club. The Hardscrabble course is a 6,525 yard par-70 that features five par-3s, ten par-4s, and three par-5s. The tournament itself was a three-round affair between Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
As a team, Southern Nazarene placed 7th, but were just five strokes off of 6th place and eight strokes off of 5th place. They finished +52, but were just +7 during Tuesday's round two.
SNU freshman Josh Van Niekerk picked a great time to put together the best tournament of his career, so far. He led the entire field after a phenomenal 3-under round one. He found himself in second place after round two, where he shot an even par. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep the momentum going in round three and ultimately fell to T-13 after a nine-over showing. He was one of just three players to collect multiple eagles during the week, doing so on the par-5 11th hole in round one, and the par-5 6th hole in round three.
Dawson Dunlap finished seven strokes behind Van Niekerk. He put together rounds of 76 and 77 on Monday and Wednesday, but played his best on Tuesday as he shot an even par after collecting four birdies. He placed T-26 in the field.
Landon Hendrix struggled a bit in round one as he shot an 81, but fought back with very solid rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday to climb up to T-32 on the leaderboard. He tallied seven birdies between the final two days as he closed the tournament with rounds of 73 and 72.
Theodor Naus finished four strokes off of Hendrix and placed 37th in the field after rounds of 79, 74, and 77. Andrew Hill rounded out the Storm lineup in 40th with rounds of 78, 77, and 80.
Henderson State claimed their fourth consecutive GAC Championship. They edged Arkansas Tech and Harding by just two strokes after they put together a final round of 4-under as a team. They placed four different individuals inside the top-10. Arkansas Tech's Landon Lawson took the individual championship at 6-under par. He finished each round under-par.
The GAC Championships wrap up another season for the Crimson Storm. They will look ahead to the fall where they will begin their 2025-26 campaign in September.
