Krantz leads quartet of Skyhawks to 9th place finish at the Hot Dirt Desert Shootout

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Fort Lewis College men's golf team opened its back-to-back weekend in warm Goodyear, Ariz., with a ninth-place team finish at the Hot Dirt Desert Shootout led by junior Nicholas Krantz who locked up a tie for 17^th place as an individual.

The tournament was hosted by Colorado School of Mines at the Golf Club of Estrella. The course featured 7,139 yards of championship golf from the black tees with a slope of 137, a rating of 73, and a par of 72.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs won the overall team title as the only unit to finish in double figures below par with single-round scores of 282 (-6), 284 (-4), and 288 (par) to end with an 854 (-10). Midwestern State University's Mason Mikeska and Garrett Leek, both of whom are ranked on Golfstat within the Top 100 for Division II, shared the individual tournament title with totals of 210 (-6).

Fort Lewis finished ninth as a team with an 891 (+27), edging out Westminster College (Utah) in 10^th with a 901 (+37) and falling just behind Mines in eighth with an 886 (+22). Krantz was the Skyhawks highest overall finisher ending the weekend in a four-way tie for 17^th with a 219 (+3) total. Krantz shot single round scores of 72, 70, and 77.

ROUND ONE – 293, +5
Krantz and Henry Poston were neck and neck through the opening round, each finishing with par to notch a five-way tie for 16^th. The duo tallied identical scorecards with a bogey on hole 10 and a birdie on hole 13. Ronald Kildall III match Krantz and Poston's birdie on 13, but bogeys on holes 11 and 12 put the sophomore one stroke above par with a 73.

ROUND TWO – 294, +6
Krantz began to pull away from the Fort Lewis pack in the second round, moving into a tie for eighth after dropping four birdies and a pair of bogeys to finish the round two under par. Poston remained the next man up, but while carding three birdies the junior also tallied five bogeys.

ROUND THREE – 304, +16
The final round proved the toughest for the Skyhawks as the team finished 16 strokes above par, tripling its first-round score. Carson Kerr carded a 72 in the final round and was the only Skyhawk to finish par or better through his final 18. Poston trailed Kerr with a 76 (+4), and Krantz was just behind with a 77 (+5).

BACK-TO-BACK
Fort Lewis will now take a single day of rest before heading next door to Palm Valley Golf Club for the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association Palm Valley Classic. Co-hosted by RJGA and Western New Mexico University, the tournament will take place Apr. 3-4.

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Players Mentioned

Carson Kerr: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ronald Kildall III: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Nicholas Krantz: 5' 10"; Junior

Henry Poston: 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Carson Kerr
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ronald Kildall III
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Nicholas Krantz
: 5' 10"; Junior

Henry Poston
: 6' 1"; Junior