The Richmond Spiders men’s golf team won the Atlantic 10 championship on April 29 at Evermore Resort in Orlando, coming from behind to secure their first conference title since 2017. The team shot a combined 15-under par in the final round, matching the lowest single round in program history.
This victory marks Richmond’s second Atlantic 10 team championship and fifth conference title overall. The win also represents the team’s fourth tournament title this season, which is a new record for most titles in a single season for the program.
Head coach Adam Decker said, “I can’t say enough about the way the guys played as a team. Everyone was asking about their teammates and giving encouragement on the course. It takes everyone 100% bought in to achieve a championship.” Decker praised freshman Lucas Rizo-Patron, who won individual medalist honors after shooting a six-under-par round of 66 to finish at thirteen under for the tournament. “Lucas was fantastic this week, so calm and steady in his rounds,” said Decker. “He works incredibly hard, and this win was earned not just this week, but throughout the entire season. It was so much fun to watch him out there. He was very much in control of his golf ball with windy conditions in the early rounds. He didn’t look like a freshman out there!”
Rizo-Patron became only the second Spider golfer to win an individual conference championship in thirty-five years. Reflecting on his performance he said, “I had a bunch of ups and downs this season, but I was always working really hard. I think this week was the culmination of all of that hard work… The whole week was an awesome team experience.” He added: “I really knew my game this week. I knew where to hit it and where my misses were and was mentally really solid… Everyone was having fun and had a really good vibe for the whole week leading up to it.”
Sophomore Carson Baez also delivered with another six-under-par round of sixty-six on Wednesday, finishing third individually at six under par—his sixth top-ten finish of eleven events this year. Junior Quin Polin joined Rizo-Patron and Baez among top finishers by tying for fourth place after posting four-under-par sixty-eight.
Decker concluded: “What a week. I’m extremely proud of the guys for not letting a tough first round get them down… It’s been something we’ve talked about all season—just get into a spot where you are playing the final round with a chance. And this makes four times they’ve responded and come out on top. Amazing!”
The Spiders will learn which NCAA Regional site they will compete at during selections announced May 6.
