MOBILE, Ala. – With 10 holes remaining in the final round of the Gulf South Conference men's golf championship, fifth-ranked UWF was nine shots out of first. Then UWF played the hardest stretch of holes at the RTJ Magnolia Grove Crossings Course as well as any team in the four years the event has been in Mobile.
 
The result was a 12-shot swing that allowed UWF to win another GSC Championship and bring the title back to Pensacola where it has resided for 18 of the previous 27 times. The league crown was also the 116th for the UWF athletics department across all sports and third in the 2022-23 academic year.
 
UWF finished with a 13-under-par, 851 total for the fourth-lowest team score in championship history. Shorter took second with an 854 and third-ranked Lee was third at 868.
 
While UWF was making its comeback, Elias Haavisto keyed the surge as he embarked on his own historic round. The fifth-year senior made birdies at nine, 11, 13 and 16 before a 2-putt bogey at 18 gave him his third-consecutive individual title, becoming the first player in league history to accomplish the feat. Five others had won twice, including two Argos in Orjan Larsen in 1998-99 and Chandler Blanchet in 2016-17.
 
Haavisto claimed the 1-shot victory with a 72-69-69=210 total. Shorter's Jean Louis du Plessis had a 3-stroke lead after eight holes before Haavisto made his move, taking advantage of consecutive bogeys by du Plessis at Nos. 14 and 15 where he lost the lead.
 
Graduate student Patrick Poate had four birdies on the back nine to shoot the low round of the day with a 68, allowing him to join Haavisto on the all-tournament team with a 72-72-68=212 and a tie for fourth place.
 
Senior Felipe Garces ended his day with a 3-under-par 69, also adding three back nine birdies, highlighted by a chip-in two at the par 3 17th. He moved into the top 10 with a 74-71-69=214 total to tie for eighth.
 
Senior Cameron Bonner tied for 16th at 71-73-74=218 and freshman Cooper Tendick tied for 23rd at 75-770-79=224.
 
UWF will now turn its attention to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional, set for May 11-13 at Grande Oakes Golf Club in Davie, Florida. The official announcement of the field will be on April 28.