by OAKLEE FIELDER
Northwestern Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team continues their tear of success as they won the Battle of the Belt in Hot Springs, Arkansas, hosted by Henderson State.
The Rangers had a total score of -5 under par. Henderson State’s A and B teams were nowhere near the skill that the Rangers had, as they finished +4 and +15. Pierce Geminden and Mathieu Zerwin finished in the top positions.
Geminden finished 1st with a score of -9. Zerwin finished tied for 2nd with two other golfers. Zerwin had a score of -2. Jack Collingswood was the third Ranger to finish with a score of at least even. Collingswood finished tied for 6th scored even. Jonathan Wijanto, who played independently, finished tied for 17th with a score of +8.
Zac Farmer finished tied for 21st with a score of +9. Chris Xiao finished tied for 34th with a score of +13. An-Chieh Tsai, who played independently, scored a tied for 37th finished with a score of +16.
Just two tournaments into the season, the Rangers have finished at the top of both. They finished 2nd at Northeastern State in the NSU Men’s Classic, and won the Battle of the Belt at Henderson.
Next, the Rangers will play a head-to-head game against Southwestern Oklahoma State in the Perkins Cup in Weatherford at the Prairie West Golf Club. The Rangers bested the Bulldogs in the NSU Men’s Classic earlier this season. Northwestern finished 2nd with their A team and 3rd with their B team. Southwestern finished in 9th, 20 strokes behind the Ranger B team.
The Rangers have been unable to take home the Perkins Cup in the short history of the head-to-head tournament. It has only gone on the last three years, both going in the favor of Southwestern.
The Perkins Cup is scored by matchups. Golfers from both the men and women’s teams face the other school’s men and women one-on-one. Whoever wins their one-on-one, earns a point for their team. After both the men and women have played, they add the points up, and score the winners.
Last year, the men teams tied 5-5, but the women lost to Southwestern 4-1, giving the Bulldogs the win 9-6.