CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---Wofford's William McGirt parred the first hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday to win the individual title at the Southern Conference Men's Golf Championships. McGirt was tied with East Tennessee State's Pat Beste at five-under-par 205 after regulation.
The Wofford senior two-putted on the 352-yard, par four first hole at the par-70 Chattanooga Golf and Country Club. Beste's tee shot on the playoff hole went left of the fairway among a tree-lined area, and he managed a bogey to finish runner-up. Ironically, Beste was last year's SoCon medallist while McGirt finished a stroke back to place second.
ETSU ran away with the team title, firing a tournament-low 11-under 269 Sunday to finish at nine-under 831. Four of the Bucs were under par for the day. College of Charleston was 19 strokes back in second place (850), and Georgia Southern finished third (857). It is ETSU's fourth consecutive conference title and seventh in the last eight years. The Bucs earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals.
ETSU's Chris Wisler turned in a final-round five-under 65 for the low round of the tournament. Wisler finished third at three-under 207, while teammate James Johnson was fourth at 208. College of Charleston's Bruce McDonald placed fifth at 209, and Chattanooga's Rocky Mankin fired a final-round 66 to finish even for the tournament and place sixth.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. ETSU 287-275-269 831 -9
2. College of Charleston 286-287-277 850 +10
3. Georgia Southern 296-286-275 857 +17
4. Appalachian State 291-287-281 859 +19
5. Furman 283-291-287 861 +21
6. UNC Greensboro 295-288-280 863 +23
7. Chattanooga 295-296-283 874 +34
8. Wofford 289-296-293 878 +38
9. Western Carolina 305-297-291 893 +53
10. Davidson 297-302-297 896 +56
11. The Citadel 326-328-316 970 +130
12. VMI 321-335-331 987 +147
TOP INDIVIDUALS
1. William McGirt, Wofford* 68-70-67 205 -5
2. Pat Beste, ETSU 70-67-68 205 -5
3. Chris Wisler, ETSU 73-69--65 207 -3
4. James Johnson, ETSU 72-69-67 208 -2
5. Bruce McDonald, CofC 70-71-68 209 -1
6. Rocky Mankin, UTC 71-73-66 210 E
(* won in sudden death playoff)