SILVIS, Ill. — On Thursday, Francisco de Bethencourt of Milligan University's men's golf program wrapped up play at the NAIA Championships. After battling to make the cut during the first two days and finishing with four birdies on the final nine holes of round three, de Bethencourt remained consistent and attacked the pins at the right time in the final round to climb the leaderboard. At the conclusion of play, his impressive effort throughout the week was capped with his lowest round of the week, earning a T-12th finish and All-Tournament honors.

De Bethencourt began his final round on the back nine, which had previously been less favorable to him; he had played those holes at a combined 11-over-par across the first three rounds, compared to a cumulative 3-under on the front. However, he didn't let those statistics derail him. After starting with a par and a bogey on the 10th and 11th, he found his stroke and carded five consecutive pars on the difficult stretch. Then, on the favorable 550-yard par-five 17th, which he had played at even-par coming into the day, de Bethencourt carded a birdie. Following a par on the 18th, he made the turn at even-par 36 and moved on to the more comfortable front nine. With nine holes to play, de Bethencourt made his push into the top 15, attacking the pins and birdieing back-to-back par threes on the third and fourth holes. He would remain consistent, finishing with four pars and a bogey to hold his position in the top 15 at T-12th, closing out the round at one-under par 69.

Overall, on the week his combined 287 strokes put him at +7 on the final leaderboard, with his two lowest rounds coming in the final two days — a 71 in round three and his lowest round of the week, a 69, on the final day. With the top 15 finish on the national stage and a co-champion finish at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament under his belt, junior de Bethencourt has much to look forward to next year.

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