Pride finish 2022-23 with record lows at Heart Championships

MORAVIA, Iowa - The culmination of the two-day, three-round Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship saw the Clarke University men's golf team produce low numbers during the eight seasons under head coach Adam Hocking.

The Pride finished in 11th place but scored a final round 300 for the best team score for an 18-hole round over the last eight seasons while junior Carter Ruegsegger also finished his final round with a 69 (-3) for the lowest individual score for a member of CU's men's golf team under Hocking.

"I'm extremely proud of our guys over the last few days," Hocking said. "A disappointing round one put us behind early but the guys stayed focused and bounced back with two of our best team scores of the season in the final two rounds."

Clarke held the 11th spot in the team leaderboard for all three rounds after a 319 in the first round to start off the first 18 of the 36-hole opening day as the long day ended with a second-round 306 before finishing up Tuesday's play with that 300.

Ruegsegger finished in a tie for eighth in the individual competition while shooting two of his three rounds under par, including that third round 69 as he went 71 (-1) in the first round and 74 (+2) in the second to finish the tournament with a 54-hole total of 214 (-2).

All four remaining members of the Pride lineup shot better second and third round scores than they did in the first round with Logan Winn being the next best score behind Ruegsegger at 84-73-75 (232), Jared Martinson finishing at 85-79-77 (241), Francis Resurreccion going 82-80-79 (241), and Jesse Frye rounded out the squad going one stroke better each round at 82-81-80 (243).

"I'm really excited to see where this group advances next fall as they continue to make strides individually and as a team," Hocking said. "It's bittersweet for me personally, but this team has a very bright future and I can't wait to follow their future success next season."

This season will serve as the final for Hocking as the head coach for men's golf as he will step down and focus his efforts as the newly appointed head coach for the Clarke women's basketball team as a new head coach for the men's program will be named during the offseason.

The Pride will return a bulk of their 2022-23 roster as they expect all five members of the team that competed this week to come back for the 2023-24 season as they'll hit the offseason looking to improve on their strong finish.