MONKEY ISLAND, Okla. – It didn't take long for Nick Canales to etch his name into the Central Oklahoma golf record book.
Playing in his second tournament for the Bronchos, the redshirt freshman fired a blistering 10-under-par 62 in the final round of the Missouri Southern Fall Classic to run away with the individual title and rally UCO to a third-place team finish.
Canales' scorching finish tied school single-round records for low score and most under par, both set by former All-American Todd Dayton in 2006, and his 18-under 198 total broke the previous marks of 15-under and 201 held by Colby Shrum.
"Nick hit it close all day and was just on fire," head coach Derrick Thompson said. "It was an amazing performance and a lot of fun to watch. I was proud of the way our guys came back the last two rounds after getting off to a slow start. We finished strong."
The Bronchos were 10th after in the first round, moved up to sixth when play was halted by darkness Monday evening and jumped up to third by the end of the tournament.
UCO had rounds of 293-277-274 in finishing three trips around the 6,840-yard, par-72 Heritage and Legends nines at Shangri-La Golf Resort with a 20-under 844 total. The final-round 14-under 274 is the second-lowest round to par in school history.
Oklahoma Christian won the 20-team event at 828, followed by Henderson State (840), UCO and Central Missouri (846).
The Bronchos had two others finish under par, with Evan Griffith at three-under 213 with rounds of 74-71-68 and Dylan Henderson at two-under 214 after shooting 75-67-72. Bennett Baldwin finished at 220 (76-72-72) and Baylor Bostick 223 (76-71-76), while Ross Taylor shot 75-70-79 – 224 as an individual medalist.
Canales started the final day tied for the individual lead at eight-under and was even-par in his final four holes of the second round to cap a second consecutive 68. That left him tied for third, two shots back of the leader.
It didn't take long for the Nebraska transfer to seize the lead.
Canales started his final round on No. 7 and opened with four straight birdies before making a bogey, then ripped off five consecutive birdies to get to eight-under for the day and 16-under for the tournament in grabbing a four-shot lead.
The redshirt freshman from La Porte, Texas followed with three pars, made another birdie on the par-4 second hole and then nailed an approach out of a fairway bunker to four feet in eagling the par-5 fourth to get to 11-under.
A 15-foot par save followed on the par-3 fifth before Canales finished with a bogey on his final hole, a tough 458-yard par-4. It added up to a 62 for the round, a 198 for the tournament and a five-shot victory over his nearest pursuer.
Griffith was even-par on his final four holes of the second round to compete a one-under 71, then came back strong with a closing 68.
The senior veteran started on No. 6 with three straight pars before birdieing the par-5 ninth, then reeled off six more pars. A birdie on the par-5 16th was offset by a bogey on No. 17, but Griffith was three-under on his last six holes to complete the four-under round.
Henderson completed his second round Tuesday morning with three pars to cap off that stellar round of 67 before shooting a final-round 72.
Baldwin made back-to-back birdies to rally for a 72 in finishing his second round, then had another comeback in closing with another 72. The junior was four-over after eight holes, but made three birdies in a four-hole stretch and ended his tournament with another birdie to complete the even-par round.
The Bronchos continue their fall season next week, traveling to Weatherford, Okla. for the Perkins Invitational.
