LAKE CHARLES, La. – Tarleton State Men’s Golf redshirt freshman Alvaro Pastor won his first collegiate individual title, winning the Golden Nugget Invitational on Tuesday at the Country Club at Golden Nugget.
Pastor shot 16-under-par to become Tarleton State’s third player to win an individual title in the Division I era. The Madrid, Spain, native set three Division I era school records (Low 18 – 65, Low 36 – 131 and Low 54 – 200). He tallied 16 birdies and an eagle to win the individual title by two strokes.
Collecting seven birdies in the first round for a 7-under-par 65, Pastor followed up with an eagle on the No. 10 hole in the second round and tallied a 6-under-par 66 to close the first day. His second round score also cracked the top five lowest 18-hole score in the Division I era. Pastor finished the last round with four birdies and a 3-under-par 69 to take the individual championship.
As a team, Tarleton State compiled the lowest 54-hole score in the Division I era at 828, shooting 36-under-par as a group. The Texans, who beat the previous Division I era record by 10 strokes, collected a third-place finish. This was Tarleton State’s second consecutive tournament finishing in the top three in the team standings.
Also helping the Texans in the Golden Nugget Invitational Monday and Tuesday was sophomore Kellen Young, who finished tied for 12th after shooting a career-low 7-under-par. Young capped off day one of the tournament with an eagle on the No. 18 hole en route to a 6-under-par 66 in the second round. His 66 tied with Pastor for the top five lowest 18-hole score in the Division I era. Young had five birdies in the final round and finished with a 2-under-par 70.
Junior Juan Ballester was also key to the Texans’ success, tying Young for 12th at 7-under-par. Ballester combined for 11 birdies to get a 3-under-par 69 in the first round and 5-under-par 67 in the second round. His 136 36-hole score is the third-lowest mark through the first two rounds of play in the Division I era.
Sophomore Drew Ironside collected an eagle on the 12th hole in the third round and finished at 1-under-par, tying for 36th place. Sophomore Luis Buech finished at 1-over-par to tie for 43rd. Freshmen Maximilian Bjornstrom and Nicholas Papacharalambous competed in the event as individuals, with Bjornstrom tying for 25th with a 3-under-par performance and Papacharalambous tying for 52nd on the player leaderboard.
Host school Lamar won the team title with a 41-under-par performance, shooting 10-under-par in the third round. UTSA finished two strokes ahead of the Texans to clinch second place. Tarleton State placed higher than WAC rival Abilene Christian, ULM, Wichita State, Northern Colorado, Oakland, USC Upstate, and Troy.
“Overall, it was a good tournament for the team and I’m super happy for Alvaro,” head coach Chance Cain said. “He has been playing solid for us and has been knocking on the door. He’s been putting a lot of work into his game, so it’s awesome for him to check a collegiate win off the box already. For the team, it’s always good to be in the final pairing of the last day of the tournament. That means we are doing our part. We unfortunately didn’t close it out today, but there’s still a lot of positives to take away from this tournament.”
Tarleton State is back in action March 16-17, heading back to the Lone Star State for the All-American Intercollegiate in Humble, Texas.
Team Results
1. Lamar, 274-271-278-823 (-41)
2. UTSA, 270-277-279-826 (-38)
3. Tarleton State, 275-271-282-828 (-36)
4. Abilene Christian, 277-284-281-842 (-22)
5. ULM, 290-271-285-846 (-18)
6. Wichita State, 281-282-285-848 (-16)
7. Northern Colorado, 284-280-288-852 (-12)
8. Oakland, 291-286-283-860 (-4)
9. USC Upstate, 287-289-285-861 (-3)
10. Troy, 291-301-279-871 (+7)
Individual Results
1. Alvaro Pastor, 65-66-69-200 (-16)
T12. Kellen Young, 73-66-70-209 (-7)
T12. Juan Ballester, 69-67-73-209 (-7)
T36. Drew Ironside, 71-74-70-215 (-1)
T43. Luis Buech, 70-72-75-217 (+1)
Individuals
T25. Maximilian Bjornstrom, 68-75-70-213 (-3)
T52. Nicholas Papacharalambous, 74-74-72 (+4)
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