Belisle Is the Medalist at Folds of Honor; Notre Dame Wins the Team Title

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. -- Cecil Belisle has demonstrated over the last six years that he knows how to win golf tournaments. His list of victories includes two Minnesota state Class AA high school championships while he was at Red Wing, two national junior college championships while he was at Sun Mountain Community College, two MGA Players titles (2020 and '22) and the 2021 Minnesota State Open.

After his two years at Sun Mountain, he transferred to the University of Kansas, and somewhat surprisingly, considering his history, he didn't win during the 2022-23 college season. But he wasted no time in claiming his first title of the 2023-24 season, at the Folds of Honor Collegiate. He got it Wednesday by shooting a 1-over-par 72 in adverse conditions -- you could hear the wind howling in the micorophones during the Golf Channel broadcast -- on a difficult American Dunes Golf Club course. That gave him a 54-hole total of 212, and he finished one stroke ahead of four players who tied for second.

Jack Tanner of Memphis and Angelo Marcon of Notre Dame both closed with 69s and ended up at 213. They were two of the four in the second-place tie, along with Kentucky's Alex Goff and 36-hole leader Nick Mathews of North Carolina State. Goff shot 72, and Mathews struggled for most of the day but salvaged a 76 thanks to an eagle at the 538-yard, par-5 18th hole.

Belisle started his round on the back nine, and when he concluded it with a par at the ninth, he was tied for first at 1 under, along with Jack Driscoll of Arkansas. But Driscoll was in the process of making a bogey at the long (503-yard) par-4 16th hole at the time, and he doubled the par-5 18th. By losing those three shots to par, Driscoll slipped all the way down into a tie for ninth on the crowded leaderboard. His final round 73 put him at 215.

Basically, Belisle didn't win the tournament by making a log of birdies, although he did make four of them in a first-round 68. He won by making the fewest bogeys -- four of them in 54 holes, plus one double.

By contrast, Mathews made seven bogeys and a double in the third round alone. Tanner had a clean card in his third-round 69 -- two birdies and no bogeys. But he made four bogeys in the first round, and five in a second-round 74. Goff had four bogeys in each of his three rounds, and Marcon matched his three-round total of 12, with four, five and three.

Belisle was three behind Mathews at the start of the final round, but they were tied by the time Mathews finished the front nine with a 3-over 38. Having bogeyed the 16th and birdied the 18th, Belisle made eight pars and one bogey, at the 171-yard, par-3 fourth, on his final nine. Mathews surrendered his share of the lead by making three bogeys in a row, at the 11th, 12th and 13th holes.

Marcon was 3 over after six holes, then played his last 12 holes in 5 under, capping his round off with birdies at the 17th and 18th holes. That was part of a ferocious rally by Notre Dame, which trailed Michigan State by six shots, and Arkansas by five, with only a few holes to go. But the Irish passed the Spartans, thanks to a Round 3 team score of 282 (minus 2), and won the team title with an overall 860. Michigan State was second at 861, and Arkansas third with an 863. South Carolina, which started the final round three behind, finished fourth, seven behind at 867.

Notre Dame sophomore Nate Stevens, the fomrer two-time state Class AAA high school champ from Northfield, shot 75 on Wednesday and tied for 30th individually with a 219. Belisle's Kansas teammate Gunnar Broin, a sophomore from Minnetonka, followed a first-round 74 with a pair of 72s and tied for 24th at 218.

Folds of Honor Collegiate

At American Dunes Golf Club

Par 71, 7,086 yards

Grand Haven, Mich.

Final results

1. Notre Dame 287-291-282--860 (+8)

2. Michigan State 291-279-291--861

3. Arkansas 289-285-289--863

4. South Carolina 282-291-294--867

5. Arizona 283-290-297--870

T6. Kentucky 290-295-286--871

T6. Memphis 286-296-289--871

8. Florida State 291-289-294--874

9. Indiana 284-306-287--877

T10. Oregon State 290-302-292--884

T10. NC State. 296-288-300--884

12. Kansas 299-298-298--895

13. Howard University 292-315-301--908

14. Grand Valley State 297-302-310--909

15. Air Force 297-312-306--915

16. Florida A&M 322-310-303--935

17. Navy 311-320-305--936

18. Army 314-310-314--938


Individuals

1. Cecil Belisle, Kansas 68-72-72--212 (-1)

T2. Nick Mathews, NC State 67-70-76--213

T2. Alex Goff, Kentucky 72-69-72--213

T2. Angelo Marcon, Notre Dame 69-75-69--213

T2. Jack Tanner, Memphis 70-74-69--213

T6. August Meekhof, Mich. State. 72-69-73--214

T6. Filip Jakubcik, Arizona 70-71-73--214

T6. Nicholas Quintero, Oregon State 69-74-71--214

T9.Zach Adams, South Carolina 69-71-75--215

T9. Drew Salyers, Indiana 70-73-72--215

T9. John Driscoll, Arkansas 71-71-73--215

T24. Gunnar Broin, Kansas 74-72-72--218

T30. Nate Stevens, Notre Dame 70-74-75--219