UNION, Ky. (9/24/2019) -- Sophomore
Anthony Occhiuto came into the day trailing the leader by four strokes but carded his fourth-straight round in the 60's with a career-best 4-under 67 en route to winning his first college tournament by four shots in the NKU Collegiate Classic on Tuesday.
With Occhiuto leading the way, the Titans finished in fifth place with an 878 (298-290-290) - just five strokes out of the top five - at the par 71, 6,724-yard Lassing Pointe Golf Course in Union, Kentucky.
Occhiuto - who had a bogey-free first round - posted 15 birdies, 33 pars and just six bogeys in his 54 holes to tally a school-record 204 (68-69-67), breaking the 205 mark by Kyler Murphy at the 2005 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational.
Occhiuto - who has four-straight rounds in the 60's dating back to his final-round 4-under 68 at Valparaiso's Crudsader Classic - began the day with three-straight birdies and was 3-under through four to jump into a tie for first with Logan Perkins of West Virginia.
He then trailed by one stroke midway through the round and it was all even with five to go when Occhiuto rose to the top with four pars and a birdie to earn medalist honors by four shots.
Senior
Scott Sparks tied for 22nd with a 222 (75-73-74), while senior
Zack Tenerowicz and junior
Bryce Douglas posted a 227 for a share of 39th.
The Titans will be back in action in two weeks when they compete in Cleveland State's Tom Tontimonia Invite from Oct. 7-8.
Titan Scorecard
Tournament Highlights
- Occhiuto's four-straight rounds in the 60's is believed to be a Titan school record since the program was reinstated in 1977
- His 4-under 67 in the final round is tied for 10th in school history and the lowest since Josh Shaw's 5-under 67 in in the first round of the 2016 Jackrabbit Invitational
- The win was the first by a Titan since Kyle Gaines won the 2017 Bulldog Florida Invitational
- Occhiuto was runner-up at last year's NKU Collegiate Classic with a 213 213 (74-71-68), but that event was played at the Elks Run Golf Club
- Occhiuto's 15 total birdies was second in the tournament
- Sparks led the team with 36 pars, while junior Jonathan Brillati had 35
- Occhiuto led the event and was the only golfer under par on the course's par 3's with a -1, 2.93 average, while also leading the competition with a -3, 3.89 average on the par 4's
- Brillati was tied for seventh on the par 3's with a +2, 3.13 average
- Sparks was seventh in the field with an even-par 4.00 average on the par 4's and Occhiuto tied for seventh with a -5, 4.58 on the par 5's
- As a team, the Titans were second with 166 pars and fourth knocking in 36 birdies
- Detroit Mercy also topped the field in par 3 scoring average (3.20) and was second on the par 4's (4.16)
- The red, white and blue shot an 878 at last year's tournament
