“You can ask any coach or player — winning is never easy,” Lash said. “We might’ve made it look easy at times this year. But when your entire season comes down to three days, anything can happen with nerves and other schools playing with nothing to lose.
“We had to earn it, that’s for sure.”
The Raiders managed to give their first-year coach a relatively stress-free day, finishing 10 shots ahead of their nearest pursuer in Youngstown State. They’ve now gone first, second and first in the last three HL tourneys.
Mikkel Mathiesen fired a 7-under-par 65 to earn medalist honors with a three-round total of 203. Both are tourney records.
The junior from Denmark had seven birdies and no bogeys on the 6,765-yard El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
“Obviously, when you play a round that well, you’ve got to have a couple good breaks here and there. But for the most part, he played almost flawless golf,” Lash said.
The previous low round in the event was 66, which was first shot in 1980 by two players from Oral Roberts and tied twice since then, including by Wright State’s Billy Day in 2000.
Mathiesen went 70-68 the first two days to reach 13-under. Teammate Tyler Goecke, a junior from Xenia, shot 67-70-71 and also broke the individual record while finishing second with an 8-under 208.
The previous mark of 210 was achieved four times, including by Day and former Raider Brandon Knutson, who was the last to do it in 2006.
“I noticed something in him in the practice round. He definitely had a different confidence this week,” Lash said of Mathiesen.
“He played some really good golf. EVERYBODY played some really good golf.”
Bryce Haney had a 73, and Cole Corder and Davis Root each shot 75.
Corder finished at 219 for a tie for ninth, Haney 221 for a tie for 15th and Root 226 for a tie for 22nd.
Teams send five players out each round and count the four best scores from the group. The Raiders shot 11-under overall and posted the largest victory margin since 2015.
“When I watch a couple guys go through a hole, and they make a bogey or a double, it doesn’t even bother me. I know the other three or four guys are going to play well. There’s not really a weak link in our team,” Lash said.
The Raiders have won nine of 12 tourneys in 2021-22 and have qualified for the NCAA Regionals, which will be held May 15-18 at six sites.
“We took a picture on No. 18 (afterward) and told ourselves, ‘We’re still not done,’” Lash said.
They’ve earned one of 30 automatic bids, and another 51 schools will get at-large berths. Ohio State is one of the regional hosts, but the Raiders were sent to Pullman, Wash., in 2019.
The low five teams from each regional will advance to the national championship May 27-June 1 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The NCAA Selection Show will be televised at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, on Golf Channel.
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