GOODYEAR, Arizona -- Midwestern State combined for five par-or-better scores to dominate the final round of the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association's Palm Valley Classic on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior James Perry carded a season-low 65 and Seth Bearden notched his ninth round in the 60s with a 67, while fellow senior Trevor Walsh and freshman Ryan Griff logged matching 2-under 70s as the Mustangs combined for the second lost total and to-par team score in school history with a 16-under 272.

"James was really focused and led the way for us," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "And everyone else played great golf. James has played very well over the last month. He is definitely trending in the right direction."

The combined effort propelled the Mustangs to their second consecutive team win as MSU finished with a 32-under team total of 832 to win by five strokes over Chico State (837/-27).

Midwestern State's total tied for third lowest 54-hole team score in program history and was the second lowest to-par.

It was the lowest team score since the Mustangs finished with an 11-under 829 at the 2022 Ryan Palmer Invitational. The to-par score of 32-under was second only to MSU's 34-under finish in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Championship.

Perry, who improved 26 positions with his final round 65, tied for sixth with an 8-under total of 208 after carding scores of 70 and 73 in the first two rounds.

Meanwhile, Bearden fell one stroke shy of winning his fourth individual tournament of the season, despite another exception performance.

The Crowell, Texas, native recorded scores of 64, 71, and 67 for a 14-under 202 to finish runner-up to Colorado Mesa's Cole Beyer (70-65-66).

Bearden enjoyed the second lowest 54-hole total in program history and lowest since Jake Doggett logged a 15-under 198 to win the 2022 Midwestern State Invitational.

"Seth was so close to winning another one, but he had a little bad luck on the last hole," Ray said.

Bearden's opening round 64 matched the fourth lowest score in program history and was the second lowest single round score to-par.

Derek Oland went 10-under in the opening round of the Argonaut Invitational in 2013-14 and Garrett Leek was 8-under in the final round of the MSU Invitational in 2019-20, while Sam Smith was 8-under in the opening round of the Lion Fall Invitational in 2011-12.

Perry's 65 in the final round stands as the ninth lowest single round score in program history, and tied the fifth lowest score to-par.

Senior Gatlin Goad carded three par-or-better scores with a 69, 71, and 72 to tie for 16th with a 4-under 212.

Freshman Ryan Griff also tied for 16th after firing scores of 73, 69, and 70, while Walsh bounced back from a 74 and 79 on opening day to fire a 2-under 70 in the final round to move into a tie for 79th with a 7-over 223.

Midwestern State competes in the Lone Star Conference Championship beginning Monday at the Rockwall (Texas) Golf and Athletic Club.
 

RJGA Palm Valley Classic

Team Leaderboard

Pos	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Midwestern State	-32	276	284	272	832
2	Chico State (Calif.)	-27	284	277	276	837
3	Colorado School of Mines	-18	283	281	282	846
4	California State, San Bernardino	-17	283	280	284	847
5	California State, East Bay	-15	284	273	292	849
6	Colorado Mesa	-14	283	282	285	850
7	Arkansas-Fort Smith	-13	286	283	282	851
8	Colorado State-Pueblo	-10	281	287	286	854
9	Lubbock Christian	-5	288	282	289	859
	UT Permian Basin	-5	288	288	283	859
11	Northeastern State	-2	281	285	296	862
12	California State, San Marcos	+4	296	280	292	868
13	Western New Mexico	+6	277	293	300	870
14	Fort Lewis (Colo.)	+9	297	286	290	873
	Northwest Nazarene (Idaho)	+9	290	296	287	873
	Saint Martin's (Wash.)	+9	295	290	288	873
17	Texas A&M International	+17	300	282	299	881
18	Embry Riddle (Ariz.)	+19	300	292	291	883
19	Montana State-Billings	+40	300	306	298	904

   

Individual Leaderboard

Pos	Player	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Cole Beyer	Colorado Mesa	-15	70	65	66	201
2	Seth Bearden	Midwestern State	-14	64	71	67	202
3	Naoki Easterday	Chico State	-12	69	69	66	204
4	Jeremy Tandoy	Arkansas-Fort Smith	-11	68	70	67	205
5	John Kim	California State, San Bernardino	-9	71	66	70	207
6	James Perry	Midwestern State	-8	70	73	65	208
	Parker Rose	Northeastern State	-8	70	68	70	208
8	Travis Miller	Chico State	-7	70	69	70	209
	Timmy Cavarno	Colorado Mesa	-7	67	69	73	209
10	Archie Wyatt	Colorado State-Pueblo	-6	69	72	69	210
	Adam Brangefalt	California State, East Bay	-6	72	67	71	210
	Will Tate	UT Permian Basin	-6	71	68	71	210
	Carter Lolli	Colorado School of Mines	-6	69	69	72	210

Midwestern State Scorecards

1	Midwestern State	-32	276	284	272	832
Place	Player	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
2	Seth Bearden (1)	-14	64*	71*	67*	202
T6	James Perry (3)	-8	70*	73*	65*	208
T16	Gatlin Goad (2)	-4	69*	71*	72	212
T16	Ryan Griff (4)	-4	73*	69*	70*	212
T79	Trevor Walsh (5)	+7	74	79	70*	223