Touchard Wins Las Vegas Desert Classic

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — Recording a birdie on three of his final eight holes and par on the other five, St. Mary's University junior Baptiste Touchard erased a three-shot deficit from Monday to win the Las Vegas Desert Classic by one stroke.
 
Touchard, a junior from Saint-Agathon, France, finished the 54-hole tournament 12-under, shooting 204 (68-67-69) to win by one stroke over second-ranked Adam Duncan from No. 1 Colorado Christian. Touchard is the first golfer to record all three rounds in the 60s since Ryan Dixon did so at the 2022 Lone Star Conference Championship. Touchard won his second title of the year after receiving individual medalist honors at The Hrnciar back in October.
 
The Rattlers, who entered this week ranked 17th in the nation according to Scoreboard Powered by clippd, finished 11th, getting better every round. StMU combined to card a five-under 283 on Tuesday to total 863. The Cougars won the title with 836 strokes, defeating #13 Florida Southern by eight strokes.
 
The 20-team field featured 16 teams ranked within the top 50, including six of the top 10 clubs. The tournament also had 25 of the top 50 ranked individuals in the mix.
 
Junior Kongpop Kaikaew (Rayong, Thailand) finished the tournament one-under to tie for 30th place. He saved his best round for Tuesday, entering the clubhouse with a 70 (-2) to climb five spots on the leaderboard. Both sophomore Philip Hallström (Gävle, Sweden) and freshman Elijah Galvan (Austin, Texas) shot even during the third round. 
 
Hallström stood alone in 69th place for the tournament with his 223 (76-75-72), while Galvan and Guillaume Paquette (La Minerve, Quebec) were tied for 70th after totaling 224 strokes.
 
The Rattlers travel next to the Midwestern State Invitational, hosted at the Wichita Falls Country Club on March 24-25. The team closes out the regular season hosting the Battle at Riverhill on April 7-8 at the Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville, Texas.
 
Las Vegas Desert Classic • March 3-4, 2025
Boulder Creek Golf Club • Boulder City, Nev.
Hosted by: Missouri-St. Louis

11/20 (par 72)	293	287	283	863 (-1)
1. Baptiste Touchard (2)	68	67	69	204 (-12)
30. Kongpop Kaikaew (1)	72	73	70	215 (-1)
69. Philip Hallström (5)	76	75	72	223 (+7)
70. Elijah Galvan (3)	79	73	72	224 (+8)
70. Guillaume Paquette (4)	77	74	73	224 (+8)