Barend Botha Ties School Record with 12-Under 204 En Route to First Title

Monday, March 27

Wilmington, N.C.

All Day

University of Toledo

Seahawk Intercollegiate

Junior Barend Botha tied Toledo's school record with a 12-under par 204 and won his first collegiate tournament at UNCW's Seahawk Invitational.

Barend Botha Ties School Record with 12-Under 204 En Route to First Title

3/27/2023 6:00:00 PM | Men's Golf

Final Results (PDF)

Junior matches Varsity T of Hall of Famer & All-American Brad Heaven's mark from nearly 20 years ago

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Junior Barend Botha won his first collegiate tournament on Monday at UNCW's Seahawk Intercollegiate with a record-tying performance. Botha tied Toledo's 54-hole record with a career-low 12-under par on the par-72, 7,031-yard CC of Landfall's Dye Course that was established nearly 20 years ago by UT Hall of Famer and All-American Brad Heaven. Heaven shot a 12-under par 201 to share medalist honors at the 2003 Nelson Invitational.

"Barend has been playing excellent and him winning a tournament was bound to happen sooner than later," said Head Coach Jeff Roope about Botha who finished second with a seven-under par 203 in his last event. "He really controlled his shot shapes and ball flights beautifully. He's grown a lot in three years since joining our program. He's learned to bounce back from errors, never letting one shot define his round. He hit a couple of balls out of bounds in this tourney and immediately got back up and right into his round. It's really exciting to see him take the next step."

A George, South Africa native, Botha opened the final round in second place two strokes out of the lead and birdied two of his last three holes to come away with the victory. He played his best golf on the par-five holes, tying for the tournament lead at nine-under and registered 16 birdies along with two eagles over the 54 holes.

"I'm very pleased with what I've acheived today," Botha said after registering his 10th Top 10 career finish. "It has always been my goal to win a college event and to do it today means the world to me. Tying a school record with it makes it even better. I hope to focus on the controllables as well as I did in this tournament in future events and hopefully get more titles by my name. All of this wouldn't be possible without the support from my family back home and the coaches and training staff at UT. Thanks to everyone for assisting with my journey."

Senior NJ Botha rebounded from an opening-round 79 to finish in 39^th place at one-over par 217 (79-67-71). Botha's five-under 67 matched his previous career best set last year at the Linger Longer Invitational.

Junior Jamie Tofte Nielsen tied for 44^th place at three-over par 219 (71-70-78) and was followed by senior Palmer Yenrick (T-74^th/79-71-78=228) and freshman Bence Kotel (T-76^th/76-73-80=229)

Botha's play helped the Rockets to a 10^th-place finish at one-over par 865. No. 27 TCU won the tournament at 21-under par 843, one stroke ahead of Wright State. Botha finished two shots in front of runner-up Walker Isley (72-67-67=206) of the host Seahawks.

The Rockets will make a return trip to North Carolina next weekend when it competes in North Carolina State's Stitch Intercollegiate on Friday-Saturday, April 7-8.

TOP FIVE 54-HOLE SCORES IN SCHOOL HISTORY
T1. Barend Botha - 204 (-12), Seahawk Intercollegiate (3/26-27/23)
T1. Brad Heaven - 201 (-12), Nelson Invitational (10/24-26/03)
3. Brad Heaven - 206 (-10), First Energy Intercollegiate (4/24-25/04)
4. Nathan Wine - 207 (-9), Xavier Invitational (10/13-14/08)
T5. Brad Heaven - 208 (-8), Badger Invitational (9/6-8/02)
T5. Otto Black - 208 (-8), Firestone Invitational (10/5-6/15)

TEAM STANDINGS
1. TCU 278-281-284=843 (-21); 2. Wright State 288-275-281=844 (-20); 3. UNCW 282-288-275=845 (-19); T4. James Madison 283-292-275=850 (-14); T4. Stetson 278-282-290=850 (-14); 6. Campbell 286-277-289=852 (-12); 7. Clemson 287-283-286-856 (-8); 8. Charleston Southern 283-294-283=860 (-4); 9. Davidson 289-290-285=864 (E); 10. TOLEDO 296-274-295=865 (+1); 11. Francis Marion 295-292-283=870 (+6); T12. Coastal Carolina 290-287-296=873 (+9); T12. Nebraska 292-302-279=873 (+9); 14. Maryland 296-288-295=879 (+15); 15. Appalachian State 299-302-293=894 (+30); 16. USC Upstate 287-304-313=904 (+40); 17. Georgetown 300-298-309=907 (+43)

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Barend Botha (TOLEDO) 70-66-68=204 (-12); 2. Walker Isley (UNCW) 72-67-67=206 (-10); 3. Aymeric Laussot (TCU) 71-69-67=207 (-9); T3. Edwin Blomander (Campbell) 70-69-68=207 (-9); T3. Andrew Swanson (Clemson) 70-66-71=207 (-9)

TOLEDO INDIVIDUALS
1. Barend Botha 70-66-68=204 (-12); 39. NJ Botha 79-67-71=217 (+1); T44. Jamie Tofte Nielsen 71-70-78=219 (+3); T74. Palmer Yenrick 79-71-78=228 (+12); T76. Bence Kotel 76-73-80=229 (+13)