VERO BEACH, Fla. – The Toledo men's golf team shattered the program's 54-hole record on Tuesday by finishing with an amazing 29-under par at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational. The Rockets finished in a seventh-place tie with Notre Dame in the team standings and just 10 strokes behind champion North Florida. The tournament featured six Top 50 schools and was played at the par-72, 7,460-yard Quail Valley Golf Club.

Toledo's 29-under total surpassed the previous mark by seven shots. The Rockets also set a school record for best 18-hole round with a 16-under par 272 today.

"Our guys have been really close to playing at a higher level each and every tournament," Head Coach Jeff Roope said. "I've felt like we had moments of playing as well as anybody at every one of our tournaments but doing it consistently has been our biggest challenge. Equally noteworthy to setting the school record was getting contributions from everyone on the team. It has been lot of fun to see them grow throughout the semester right up until the last putt was struck today."

Junior captain Barend Botha topped the Rockets efforts today with a five-under par 67 to finish in sixth place in the individual standings with a career-best 11-under par 205 (67-71-67).  After playing his first 11 holes at one-under, he heated up down the stretch and finished his day with four birdies in his last seven holes.
 
"It was great to see Barend get a top 10 finish at the end of the fall," Roope said. "He has been knocking on the door the whole semester. He was voted captain of the team a couple weeks ago and really takes the responsibility seriously when it comes to leading the team on the golf course and trying to set an example. It's meant a lot to the growth of our guys."
 
Senior NJ Botha fired a four-under par 68 today and tied for 23^rd place with a career-low seven-under par 209 (70-71-68). He played a bogey-free round en route to the best 54-hole total of his Rocket career. 

Junior Jamie Tofte Nielsen tied for 37^th place with a five-under par 211 (74-68-69) after carding a three-under par 69 today.

Freshman Bence Kotel notched his best round as a Rocket today with a four-under par 68. After playing his first seven holes at even-par, he strung together four birdies and finished tied for 49^th with a two-under par 214 (73-73-68).

Senior Palmer Yenrick also finished the tournament under-par and tied for 53^rd place with a one-under par 215 (74-69-72).

TEAM STANDINGS
1. North Florida 275-273-277=825 (-39); T2. Liberty 278-275-275=828 (-36); T2. Michigan State 277-286-265=828 (-36); 4. Cincinnati 279-280-271=830 (-34); 5. Northwestern 281-281-269=831 (-33); 6. Missouri 277-273-282=832 (-32); T7. Toledo 284-279-272=835 (-29); T7. Notre Dame 274-275-286=835 (-29); 9. South Florida 279-279-282=840 (-24); 10. Indiana 281-282-278=841 (-23); 11. Memphis 277-287-280=844 (-20); T12. Rutgers 280-282-283=845 (-19); T12. Penn State 282-282-281=845 (-19); T14. Maryland 284-281-288=853 (-11); T14. Wisconsin 290-285-278=853 (-11); 16. Northern Illinois 294-281-285=860 (-4)

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Drew Salyers (IU) 65-65-69=199 (-17); T2. Nick Gabrelcik (UNF) 65-67-68=200 (-16); T2. Drew Hackett (MSU) 67-69-64=200 (-16); 4. Robbie Higgins (UNF) 68-68-66=202 (-14); 5. Antonio Safa (Missouri) 69-68-66=203 (-13)
 
TOLEDO INDIVIDUALS
6. Barend Botha 67-71-67=205 (-11); T23. NJ Botha 70-71-68=209 (-7); T37. Jamie Tofte Nielsen 74-68-69=211 (-5); T49. Bence Kotel 73-73-68=214 (-2); T53. Palmer Yenrick 74-69-72=215 (-1)