MOBILE – In his final round as a member of the Jacksonville State men's golf team, senior Ross Napier capped his first collegiate tournament with all three rounds under par.
 
The team's lone senior and native of Hartselle, Ala., Napier carded a 1-under 71 on the Crossings Course at Magnolia Grove on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in his final round of the 2023 ASUN Conference Championship. It put the finishing touches on a 5-under 211 for the tournament. He helped lead the Gamecocks to a tie for fourth in the 14-team event, one that saw them seeded eighth going in.
 
Jax State was paced by junior Erik Jansson's eighth-place finish that saw him shoot 1 13-under 203. The Vasteras, Sweden, native tied for the sixth-lowest 54-hole score in program history. The Gamecocks shot a team 833, the fourth-best 54-hole score in school history.
 
Liberty, the 39^th-ranked team in the nation by Golfstat, won the tournament with a 53-under 811, ahead of No. 42 North Florida in second with a 49-under 815. Jacksonville came in third with a 32-under 832.
 
"It isn't the finish we hoped for going into today's final round, but there are so many good things that we can take away from this tournament," said head coach Michael Brice, who took over the program mid-year. "It was great to see Ross close his career with three rounds under par, Erik came through for us like he has all season and we got great rounds from all five players at some point during the tournament. I'm excited for what the future holds for this program."
 
The Gamecocks entered the final round paired with Liberty and UNF, but both posted low rounds to pull away. Liberty's Jonathan Yaun claimed medalist honors at 18-under.
 
Jansson carded a final-round 73 to close his 203 and couldn't get on a run like he did in the first two rounds. He opened play with rounds of 67 and 64 on Tuesday and entered Wednesday with a one-shot lead. He finished the tournament with 17 birdies and an eagle.
 
His three rounds in the ASUN Championship closed his season with a 71.39 stroke average, the fourth-best single-season average in Jax State history. He had 20 rounds of par or better this season, tied for fifth-most.
 
Sophomore Ryley Heath shot a final-round 74 to cap his impressive tournament. The Decatur, Ala., native tied for 21^st after carding rounds of 67 and 69 on Tuesday. He played Magnolia Grove's par-three holes at 1-under, tied for fourth-best in the field, and made 12 birdies and an eagle over three rounds.
 
Napier also made 12 birdies and an eagle and capitalized on the par-five holes. He was 6-under on those holes to help be the only Gamecock to go under par in all three rounds.
 
Redshirt freshman Ricardo Matho tied for 40^th in his first conference tournament for the Gamecocks. The native of Argentina entered the week with one collegiate round of even par and sandwiched two around a second-round 71 to shoot 215 for the week. 
 
Sophomore Santiago Bailleres tied for 47^th in the tournament with an even-par 216 but was a huge part in positioning the Gamecocks after the first round. The Carrientes, Argentina, native fired a 67 to open his tournament before closing with rounds of 76 and 73, respectively.
 
The season ends for the Gamecocks, but Jansson awaits to see if he will be selected to compete in the NCAA Regionals as an individual. He entered the week ranked 164^th nationally and will learn his fate when the NCAA announces its selections at 12 p.m. CT on May 3 on the Golf Chanel.