STATESBORO, Ga. Georgia Southern fired a final round 288 (even) on Sunday to claim a two-stroke victory in the 2003 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championships held at the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club this weekend.
The Eagles tallied a three-day total of 872 (+8) in winning the tournament, edging the College of Charleston, who also fired a 288 on Sunday to finish at 874 (+10). The victory proved to be Georgia Southern's first conference title since joining the SoCon in 1993 and gave the Eagles the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
Charleston's Bruce McDonald fired a final round 69 (-3) to overcome East Tennessee State's James Johnson for the individual medalist honors. McDonald finished the tournament at four-under with a 212 while Johnson, who led through the first two round, finished with an even-par 216. Charleston's Adam Grodhaus also tallied a three-day total of 216 to finish tied for second while UNC Greensboro's Jake Lowder came in fourth with a one-over-par 217. Georgia Southern's Aron Price and Jon David Kennedy as well as East Tennessee State's Chase Baldwin and Wofford's Daniel Sloan all tied for fifth at 218.
East Tennessee State finished with a total of 884 (+20) to claim third in the team standings while Wofford was fourth with an 890 (+26). UNC Greensboro followed with an 892 (+28) to finish in fifth place while the rest of the field included Furman at 899 (+35), Davidson at 904 (+40), The Citadel with a 910 (+46), Chattanooga at 925 (+61), Appalachian State with a 926 (+62) and Western Carolina at 930 (+66).
"I'm very pleased with the total team effort we received this weekend," said Georgia Southern head coach Larry Mays. "Our team has really played strong over the last month of the season and it showed this weekend."
The Southern Conference also announced its 2003 All-Conference team as well as the SoCon Freshman, Player and Coach-of-the-Year on Sunday. Georgia Southern and Charleston placed three members each on the eight-man All-Conference team with the Eagles' Price and Kennedy being joined by Travis Mobley while Cougars McDonald and Grodhaus were joined by Kyle Bradley. East Tennessee State's James Johnson and UNC Greensboro's Andy Bare rounded out the team. McDonald was named the conference's Player-of-the-Year while Kennedy earned Freshman-of-the-Year honors. Davidson's Tim Straub was named the Southern Conference Coach-of-the-Year.
FINAL RESULTS Southern Conference Championships
Forest Heights CC Statesboro, Ga.
Dates: 04/18 - 04/20 (Today:04-20-2003)
Par: 72
Yardage: 6962
Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 Georgia Southern U. 294 290 288 872
2 Charleston, Coll. of 287 299 288 874
3 East Tennessee St. 293 296 295 884
4 Wofford College 291 302 297 890
5 N. Car.- Greensboro 298 299 295 892
6 Furman University 306 297 296 899
7 Davidson College 300 297 307 904
8 Citadel, The 307 307 296 910
9 Tennessee-Chattanoog 309 312 304 925
10 Appalachian State U. 316 304 306 926
11 Western Carolina U. 304 315 311 930
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 Bruce McDonald Charleston 72 71 69 212
2 James Johnson E Tenn. St 69 70 77 216
Adam Grodhaus Charleston 71 75 70 216
4 Jake Lowder NC Greensb 72 73 72 217
5 Aron Price Ga. South 75 70 73 218
Chase Baldwin E Tenn. St 73 75 70 218
Jon David Kennedy Ga. South 74 72 72 218
Daniel Sloan Wofford 70 78 70 218
9 Buddy Davis Furman 74 71 75 220
Van Burgess Wofford 73 77 70 220
Kyle Bradley Charleston 72 73 75 220
Drew Bowen Ga. South 74 75 71 220
Mark Powers NC Greensb 76 71 73 220
14 Travis Mobley Ga. South 71 79 72 222
Matt Brock Tenn-Chatt 74 75 73 222
16 Trae Ely Wofford 73 73 77 223
17 Jeff Spencer Citadel 75 77 72 224
Chase Jones Ga. South 76 73 75 224
Dan Koernke Davidson 71 75 78 224
20 David Thomas Appal. St. 76 74 75 225
Cennydd Mills E Tenn. St 77 74 74 225
Matt Frye Citadel 77 76 72 225
Christian Davis Davidson 78 73 74 225
Jay McKnight Furman 78 76 71 225
Fin. School Scores
1 Georgia Southern U. 294 290 288 872
T 5 Aron Price 75 70 73 218
T 5 Jon David Kennedy 74 72 72 218
T 9 Drew Bowen 74 75 71 220
T 14 Travis Mobley 71 79 72 222
T 17 Chase Jones 76 73 75 224
2 Charleston, Coll. of 287 299 288 874
1 Bruce McDonald 72 71 69 212
T 2 Adam Grodhaus 71 75 70 216
T 9 Kyle Bradley 72 73 75 220
T 25 John Assey 72 80 74 226
T 38 Kellen Altman 75 80 79 234
3 East Tennessee St. 293 296 295 884
T 2 James Johnson 69 70 77 216
T 5 Chase Baldwin 73 75 70 218
T 20 Cennydd Mills 77 74 74 225
T 25 Derek Mcnamara 74 77 75 226
36 Jeremy Hobson 79 77 76 232
4 Wofford College 291 302 297 890
T 5 Daniel Sloan 70 78 70 218
T 9 Van Burgess 73 77 70 220
16 Trae Ely 73 73 77 223
T 32 Jon Stephenson 75 75 80 230
T 40 Daniel Felder 75 77 83 235
5 N. Car.- Greensboro 298 299 295 892
4 Jake Lowder 72 73 72 217
T 9 Mark Powers 76 71 73 220
T 27 Andy Bare 75 75 77 227
T 30 Nick Baker 75 80 74 229
T 43 Gregg Blainey 80 80 76 236
6 Furman University 306 297 296 899
T 9 Buddy Davis 74 71 75 220
T 20 Jay McKnight 78 76 71 225
T 27 T.J. Blandford 79 74 74 227
T 30 Ryan Potter 75 76 78 229
T 34 Shane Birckbichler 79 76 76 231
7 Davidson College 300 297 307 904
T 17 Dan Koernke 71 75 78 224
T 20 Christian Davis 78 73 74 225
T 27 Ben Friedell 75 72 80 227
T 32 Tim Dillon 77 77 76 230
37 Dan Walker 77 77 79 233
8 Citadel, The 307 307 296 910
T 17 Jeff Spencer 75 77 72 224
T 20 Matt Frye 77 76 72 225
T 45 Matthew Bryant 76 75 86 237
T 48 Douglas McMillan III 79 86 73 238
T 48 Jordan Fink 80 79 79 238
9 Tennessee-Chattanoog 309 312 304 925
T 14 Matt Brock 74 75 73 222
T 40 Gary Ferguson 76 80 79 235
T 48 Ryan Owens 85 80 73 238
T 53 Nathan Rhatigan 80 77 83 240
55 Brent Mahoney 79 83 79 241
10 Appalachian State U. 316 304 306 926
T 20 David Thomas 76 74 75 225
T 43 Drew Davis 79 74 83 236
T 45 Guido Di Cicco 80 82 75 237
T 45 Brian Keiser 81 78 78 237
52 Chris Jarman 83 78 78 239
11 Western Carolina U. 304 315 311 930
T 34 Tim Eckberg 74 72 85 231
T 38 Keith Tyburski 73 84 77 234
T 40 Chase Kress 78 80 77 235
T 48 Matt Flueckiger 79 83 76 238
T 53 Blake Wray 79 80 81 240