Shane Howell sat in the National Golf Invitational on Sunday and it felt like the Kentucky Derby.
Howell, the head coach of Texas State, said, “Somehow we managed to top the board.”
Five teams were within two shots of each other at the top of the a href=”https://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=27293″ rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>leaderboard/a>. Texas State, with 7 under for this week, narrowly beat Penn State and Wyoming, who tied for second place on 6 under The top five teams in the leaderboard were all within two shots each other. Texas State was at 7 under par for the week and narrowly beat Penn State and Wyoming who tied at 6 under. Ball State and Stetson tied at the top of the leaderboard with 5 under. On Sunday, all five teams were in the lead.
Howell doesn’t usually refresh his Golfstat while coaching, but on Sunday it was different. Howell found his counters were 9 over par for the day when he checked the leaderboard at the end of the first six-hole round. After 12 holes, he checked again and saw that the comeback was beginning.
National Golf Invitational Champions @TxStateMGolf pic.twitter.com/47hKvq8QM3
Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler May 22, 2020
Howell worked on the par-5 16, which Texas State completed in 2 under due to birdies by Jack Burke and Marcelo Garza. Logan Davis, Howell’s assistant, was ahead of the team at the par-3 17, where they struggled and lost their lead to Wyoming.
Howell had already joined Garza in the anchor position at Texas State. Garza’s drive went into high brush, but he was able to get relief from an older sprinkler head. He punched the fairway down to 90 yards.
Howell: “I met him there.” “He asked, ‘Hey where are we?’ I replied, Bogey wins us the title. So he two-putted on the middle green, about 35 feet away.
Ball State was among those teams that were circling around the lead. While the Cardinals ended up being two shots behind Texas State in the end, the sophomore Kash bellar became the first NGI champion.
Bellar asked for an update every time he saw Ball State’s head coach Mike Fleck out on the course.
Bellar said that “He would tell us, Hey, we’re doing alright. Falling behind'”.
Bellar’s final round card was not flashy. He made three birdies, and three bogeys. This left him with an even-par score of 72. It gave him a one shot win at 7-under. He birdied the driveable par-4 fourteenth hole from a bunker on the greenside, giving him a huge momentum boost. Then he sealed the win by rolling in a birdie 15-footer uphill on the par-4 final hole.
Bellar won his first college golf title and first victory in golf since 2021 Indiana High School State Championship.
Bellar stated, “I have been very close to completing this project a number of times in the spring.” It was nice to have it finished this week.
Bellar was only beginning to consider the possibility of being the first after the conclusion to the tournament, even though it had been on his mind before he traveled to Arizona with the team.
Bellar said, “I forgot which buddy I spoke to.” I told him this was the first NIT ever for golf. What would it feel like to be the very first to win?
Texas State will also process this. This is the Bobcats’ third NGI title in a season that has been plagued by injuries. Three of Howell’s five starters missed time with injuries at some point in the year. Garza was one of them. He played in the first tournament, missed the fall because of a wrist injury, and only started playing again in January. Garza was the only one who could have won the NGI title.
Howell stated, “They had a fantastic year.” We felt very grateful to be at the tournament all week because we had a great year. For Lance Ringler (of Golfweek) hosting this event was like a second chance for us. They took full advantage of it.”
Texas State, like many teams, felt that it still had unfinished business following the Sun Belt Conference Championship. This was especially true after a disappointing last round, which left them outside the conference match play bracket.
Howell stated, “We were very grateful for another opportunity to play.”
Howell told his team that the NGI could be used as a springboard for the next level. The Texas State team is well prepared for whatever the next season may bring with a wild leaderboard on Sunday afternoon.
Howell stated, “We feel that we are a regional team. This week is the beginning of our journey into next year.” We used it as motivation to get ready for the tournament. We were going to finish on a high note, win, lose, or draw.
Note from the editor: In May of 2022, NCAA announced that it would allow colleges to participate in a single season-ending tournament, similar to college’s NIT. In July 2022, Golfweek and Ak-Chin Southern Dunes partnered to create the first National Golf Invitational. Lance Ringler, Golfweek’s Tournament Director, was the tournament director.
