Sun Belt Conference Monthly News and Notes (March 2016)
Men's Stats
Women's Stats
Napier, Cano Pick Up Golfer of the Month Honors
Arkansas State's Tanner Napier and Troy's Fátima Fernández Cano picked up Sun Belt Men's and Women's Golfer of the Month accolades, respectively, the league office announced on Wednesday. Napier and Cano were both tournament winners this spring as teams got back out onto the courses for the second-half of the season.
Napier, a sophomore from Paris, Texas, took home top honors at the Loyola Intercollegiate with an 18-under par 189, leading the Red Wolves to their third consecutive tournament title dating back to the fall season. It was Napier's first career individual title. He also became the first A-State individual to win a tournament since the 2012-13 season by putting together the lowest three-round score by an Arkansas State golfer in over a decade.
Napier’s final-round 64 was the lowest single-round score by a Sun Belt Conference player this season, according to Golfstat.com at the time of this report. Napier has helped the Red Wolves claim three straight tournament titles for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Arkansas State posted a 31-under 833 as a team, which was its best three-round score in over a decade.
Cano, a junior, won for the second time this season as she tied her own 54-hole school record with a 6-under 210 at the Kiawah Island Spring Classic. She carded two rounds of 69 before firing even-par in the third and final round to finish tied for first in the 216-player field.
She finished with 12 birdies over the three rounds. Cano leads the Sun Belt with a 72.0 scoring average in 11 rounds played.
The Red Wolves will compete in five more tournaments before the team heads to Destin, Fla. for the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championship. Troy will compete in three more tournaments before they head to Destin for the women's championship.
The women's championship is scheduled for April 17-19 and the men's championship is scheduled for April 24-27.
MEN'S MARCH GOLFER OF THE MONTH
Tanner Napier • Arkansas State • Sophomore • Paris, Texas
Arkansas State sophomore Tanner Napier claimed medalist honors at the Loyola Intercollegiate with an 18-under-par 189, leading the Red Wolves to their third consecutive tournament championship dating back to the fall. Napier collected his first career individual title, which was also the first by an A-State player since the 2012-13 season. He put together the lowest three-round score by an Arkansas State golfer in over a decade. He began play with a 66 to put him in second place among the 104-player field, took over first the next day with a 68 and closed with a career-low 64. Napier’s final-round 64 was the lowest single-round score by a Sun Belt Conference player this season, according to Golfstat.com at the time of this report. Napier has helped the Red Wolves claim three straight tournament titles for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Arkansas State posted a 31-under 833 as a team, which was its best three-round score in over a decade.
WOMEN'S MARCH GOLFER OF THE MONTH
Fátima Fernández Cano • Troy • Junior • Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Fátima Fernández Cano won for the second time this year as she tied her own 54-hole school record with a 6-under 210 at the Kiawah Island Spring Classic. Cano shot two rounds of 3-under 69 around a round of even par to finish tied for first among a field of 216 golfers. Cano also bested the No. 52 ranked player in the country in William & Mary’s Alessandra Lui by five shots. Cano finished with 12 birdies over the three rounds, which was tied for the fourth most in the field, while her collective 4-under on par-4 holes was tied for the lowest in the field.
Cano has moved up to No. 103 in the latest national individual rankings and has a 72.0 stroke average for the year.