(Editor's note: MSUB Athletics release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – After finishing tied for 10th at last week’s RJGA Palm Valley Classic in Arizona, Montana State University Billings men’s golf senior Riley Kaercher has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
Kaercher was the top-finishing player from the GNAC among the field of 98 competitors at the event, as he shot a collegiate career-best three-round total of 214 over the three rounds. “Riley has really come on strong this spring in his last year as a ‘Jacket,” said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. “He is playing well enough to contend and win at the conference tournament next week.”
Kaercher tallied 13 birdies throughout the event, which was tied for seventh most among all players. He opened the event with a 2-under-par 70 on the par-72, 7,015-yard course layout, and after following with a 75 in Round 2 he bounced back with a 3-under-par 69 his final time through the course. Kaercher’s final round score was one stroke off his personal collegiate best of 68, and he had nothing worse than a bogey on his scorecard.
This mark’s Kaercher’s second GNAC Player of the Week award of his career, after he earned the honor on March 14 when he led all GNAC players at the Northwest Nazarene Invitational in California.
Kaercher holds a scoring average of 79.4 strokes per round this season, and leads the team with three top-10 finishes. His 83 career rounds played are fourth-most in program history.
The Yellowjacket men’s golf team is next in action at the GNAC Championships, which are scheduled for April 18-19 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course in Idaho.
