MOBILE, Ala. – Faulkner golf won consecutive tournaments for the first time in a decade Tuesday as the men's team went 18-under par for the 54-hole event to take the Ram Invitational. The victory marked the first time since 2018 that any Faulkner golf team won back-to-back events and the first time since 2015 that the men's squad accomplished the feat.
The Eagles were little short of dominant across the 54-hole event as they finished 15 strokes ahead of second-place Blue Mountain Christian. Faulkner shot a 3-under-par 285 to hold a four-stroke lead after one round of play.
Gabriel Dulon paced the Eagles through the first round as he carded five birdies to shoot a 3-under-par 69. That put him two strokes ahead of teammates
Rodolphe Cicala and
Ernest Juglar.
Juan Cespedes turned in the fourth-best score of the day as he carded a 2-over-par 74.
The Eagles bettered their pace in the second round with a 4-under-par 284. The improvement came despite Cespedes shooting a 5-over-par 77 and Dulon going even par. The anchors came in the form of Juglar and Cicala. The former turned in one of his best collegiate rounds with a 3-under-par 69 that featured a double birdie on a 540-yard par-five. Cicala vaulted himself closer toward the top of the leaderboard during the second round with a 6-under-par 66 that included seven birdies.
Faulkner closed exceptionally strong as it ballooned a six-stroke lead to 15 over the final 18 holes. The Eagles tallied an 11-under-par 277 to close the event at 18-under, surpassing the program record for team low round in a 54-hole tournament. The prior mark came in the 2012-13 SSAC Championship that saw Faulkner shoot 9-under.
Dulon notched the best round of the tournament with a 7-under-par 65 after hitting seven birdies and going even on the other 11 holes. Cicala followed with six birdies on the front nine, including five consecutive holes, to put together a 4-under-par 68. Juglar's five birdies helped him to a 1-under-par 71 in closing time while Cespedes finished one over.
Cicala shot 11-under for the event to take his second consecutive tournament championship, becoming the first Eagle golfer to win consecutive events since Daniel Jansen won three out of four in 2013. For the second straight week, he finished exactly one stroke ahead of Dulon, who went 10-under for the event and held the program record for an individual low in a 54-round event. That record lasted until Cicala completed his round at 11-under. Both scores surpass the previous 54-round low set by Cicala at the Carey Collegiate in 2024. The duo tied for the tournament lead with 16 birdies apiece. Juglar made it three Eagles in the Top 5 finishers as he went 5-under for the event to take fifth place.
Cicala was one of only two players in the event to go under on par-3 holes. He also paced the field on par-4 holes where he shot 5-under. Cicala went 5-under on par-5 holes while Juglar was 8-under on such setups. Dulon was an eye-popping 10-under on par-5s. As a team, the Eagles shot 24-under on par-5 holes.
Faulkner paced a field that included SSAC foes Blue Mountain Christian, William Carey, Mobile and Tennessee Southern as well as Freed-Hardeman University, Tennessee Wesleyan and NCAA Division II foe Spring Hill.
Faulkner gets right back at it Monday when it travels to Newnan, Ga. to compete in the Point Invitational.
