SEASIDE, Calif. – Grand Canyon men’s golf shot under par in every round played across three days at the Saint Mary’s Invitational, totaling a 6 under score to place sixth among 18 schools at the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club.
It is the second straight sixth place showing for the Lopes, who played among four nationally ranked teams and top schools across the western United States in Seaside, California. GCU finished above No. 30 Arkansas State along with Washington State, Nevada, Long Beach State and Pacific.
No. 31 Washington won at 26 under, followed by No. 21 Santa Clara at 18 under and Oregon with 17 under.
The clubhouse leader in eagles was junior Matthew Diehl, who had his best showing of the season at 8 under to tie for sixth out of 104 golfers. Diehl’s first round, 2 under consisted of an eagle, birdie, bogey and 15 pars to set the pace for GCU, who has finished in the top 10 in four tournaments this season.
Diehl followed that up with four birdies and an eagle to just one bogey in the second round for a 5 under, 67. He had his most birdies of any round in round three, totaling five with yet another eagle to wipe away a couple bogeys early in his round. The California native finished 1 under in the final round and was at one point tied for first on day two.
Sophomore Daniel Nilsson also shot 1 under Wednesday with two birdies to just one bogey for an even total for the week. Nilsson gradually got better as the tournament moved on, registering six of his nine birdies across his final 36 holes. He placed 29th overall.
Senior Måns Boje was one stroke behind Nilsson at 1 over, shooting even par in both rounds two and three. Boje had five birdies in round two alone and tied for 30th.
Senior Ben Keil tied for 50th at 4 over, while classmate Gavin O’Neill tied for 59th with a 5 over total.
The 7,104 par 72 course saw multiple teams total two or more eagles, but none more than GCU who tallied six as a team. Five players had multiple eagles for their tournament including Diehl and Keil.
GCU shot 20 under on par 5 holes (8th best) and averaged a 4.09 par 4 scoring average, second best among 18 teams. Its 170 pars finished six behind Nevada for most in the tournament.
Diehl was connecting on all cylinders of scoring, finished tied for seventh on par 3’s (2.92) and tied for third on par 5’s (4.33). It was Nilsson’s even par play that put him tied for first among all golfers with 38 pars.
The last fall tournament of the 2026 season concludes Oct. 26-27 in nearby Carmel, California, in the Preserve Golf Club Collegiate at Saint Lucia Preserve. The Lopes then take a three-month break before returning to spring action in Hawaii February 11-13.