EDMOND, Okla. – No. 23-ranked Midwestern State plays its first tournament in nearly a month as it travels to Oak Tree Country Club for the 54-hole Oak Tree Invitational, which begins with two rounds on Monday, and the final 18 holes will be played on Tuesday.

Midwestern State lifted the trophy at the Rattler Invitational for the second time in three years on Feb. 17, when the Mustangs were the only team in the field to shoot even-par or better.

Ryan Griff was the runner-up at Dominion Country Club. Nathan Nelson finished third on the leaderboard, and Seth Bearden finished in a fourth-place tie.

Midwestern State finished at even-par and 13 strokes ahead of No. 6-ranked St. Mary's, and won the 29th tournament title in program history.

Northern Biais of Northeastern State edged Griff by one stroke for the individual title. Griff shot even-par over the final 18 holes and finished in second place at 3-under par. The sophomore from Bulverde, Texas, was 2-under par through 14 holes in the final round and finished the day with two birdies and two bogies.

Griff and Nelson each had the best finish of their collegiate career.

Griff's first birdie in the final round came on the ninth hole, which he eagled in each of the first two rounds. He birdied the 13th hole for the second time in the tournament to get to 2-under in his final round.

Nelson, who opened the tournament with a 4-under 68 on Monday, closed out the tournament with his fourth birdie of the day to finish the final round at 2-over. He was 2-under through 54 holes and finished two strokes behind Biais.

Bearden was one of three golfers to finish the tournament tied for fourth place at even-par, shooting 2-over 74 in the final round. The No. 25-ranked player in NCAA Division II eagled the 499-yard, par-5 ninth hole on Tuesday, and he also had a birdie in his final round. Bearden finished the tournament with 10 birdies and an eagle.

Bearden was the individual titlist at Oak Tree last season, shooting 70, 68, and 71 for a 1-under total of 209 on the par-70, 7,102-yard course. The senior from Crowell, Texas, has won five individual titles in his collegiate career, including the National Preview in October.

The Mustangs finished in sixth place at Oak Tree last year, shooting 74-over 914 through 54 holes. MSU finished behind UT Tyler, Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma Christian, Cameron and Henderson State.

UT Tyler was 53-over 893 through 54 holes last year and won the tournament by five strokes over Central Oklahoma.

The Patriots are part of this year's 17-team field, which also includes Lubbock Christian, Western New Mexico, Oklahoma Christian, Texas A&M International, Cameron, UT Permian Basin and West Texas A&M from the Lone Star Conference.

The rest of the field features Southern Nazarene, Southern Arkansas, Northwestern Oklahoma State, South Dakota School of Mines & Tech, Missouri Western State, Arkansas Tech, Harding and East Central.

Oak Tree Country Club, designed by Pete Dye, is known for its undulating Bermuda grass greens, a multitude of bunkers and rolling terrain.

The weather forecast for Monday is calling for partly sunny skies and chilly conditions with a high of 48 degrees and a northerly wind at 10-15 mph. Tuesday is expected to be partly sunny, breezy and warmer with a high near 70 degrees and southerly winds at 15-20 mph.

MIDWESTERN STATE LINEUP

1.       Seth Bearden

2.       Ryan Griff

3.       Nathan Nelson

4.       Anniston McIlwain

5.       Chase Kisver