ACWORTH, Ga. – Bellarmine senior
Riley Jude Bender, making the first start of his career, tied for fourth place out of 62 golfers at the completion of The Scrappy at Cobblestone Tuesday afternoon. The effort marked the first top-five finish by a Knight since
Luke Bischoff won the Austin Peay Intercollegiate on October 2, 2023.
Bender carded a -2 in the opening round Monday at Cobblestone Golf Course, tying him for the second-best first round and third best round overall at the event. He followed that with a +4 in the second round on Monday and a +1 in Tuesday's final round to finish at +3. Bender was aided by his 12 birdies, tied for second-most at the event.
The senior St. Xavier product's previous career-best finish in a three-round event was as an individual in his first career event. He tied for 73rd out of 109 at +12 at the World Golf Village Collegiate in February 2024.
Bender's first round performance helped the Knights to a 293 team score, their seventh-best of the fall season. Overall, the Knights placed ninth out of 11 teams at +46.
Host Kennesaw State earned the team medal at +11, 13 shots better than Georgia State in second. Two other fellow Kentucky universities competed with Morehead State tying for fifth and Murray State placing seventh. ASUN foe West Georgia placed 10th, one stroke behind Bellarmine.
KSU's Shaun Cook took home medalist honors at -2. The Owls' senior was the lone player in the field to finish below par. Tennessee Tech's Haden Maxwell placed second at even-par.
COMPLETE BELLARMINE RESULTS:
10/13-14/2025 -- The Scrappy at Cobblestone
Cobblestone Golf Course -- Acworth, GA
Par 71, 6759 yards -- 11 teams, 62 players
# Indicates individual player
This was Bellarmine's final event of the fall season and they are set to resume play in the spring February 1-3 in Cancún, México. The Knights will compete in the Compadres Collegiate Invitational at the Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow the Knights on
X,
Instagram and
Facebook.
