Baylor men’s golf overcame a six-shot deficit against SMU on its home course to win the 2018 Trinity Forest Invitational by one shot. The Bears shot a final round of 14-under-par 270 on Tuesday afternoon, which was the 10th-best round in program history, to claim the title by one shot over SMU with a 54-hole total of 28-under-par 824.
BU (-28) got a six-foot par putt from sophomore Ryan Grider on No. 18 to seal the victory. The Bears defeated SMU (-27), College of Charleston (-19), Florida (-18), North Texas (-16), Arkansas-Little Rock (-7), New Mexico (-4), UTSA (-2), Sam Houston State (+5), Rice (+7), Ball State (+13), Oral Roberts (+15) and Abilene Christian (+19).
Baylor entered the day six shots back of SMU and cut the deficit to two strokes at the turn by combining to make 18 birdies on the front-9 against only five bogeys. Cooper Dossey played the front-9 at 4-under with four birdies and five pars, while Grider made three birdies and six pars and Colin Kober carded two birdies and seven pars. Braden Bailey and Garrett May were both 2-under at the turn, with Bailey making five birdies and May sinking four.
Four members of the Baylor lineup recorded top-10 finishes in the 84-player field. Grider posted a career-best finish with a tie for seventh place at 7-under-par 206 after matching his career-best with a final round of 4-under 67. Dossey, Kober and Bailey all tied for 10th place at 6-under 207, with Kober recording his best finish as a member of the Baylor lineup and Bailey and Dossey recording their 17th and ninth career top-10 finishes, respectively.
Bailey was 1-over through five holes, but made five birdies and eight pars the rest of the way to post 4-under 67. Dossey, Kober and May all shot 3-under 68, with May finishing in 18th place at 4-under 209.
The four remaining members of the Baylor roster played as individuals. Travis McInroe shot 2-under 69 to finish tied for 50th place at 5-over 218, while freshman Brandon Hoff also tied for 50th place at 5-over 218 after a final round of 1-over 72. Austin Cotton shot 2-over 73 in the final round and tied for 41st place at 3-over 216, while Mark Reppe carded 3-over 74 on Tuesday to finish in 71st place at 11-over 224.
