Georgia Southern Finishes 7th at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia garnered its fifth Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational title with Bulldog Chris Kirk winning the individual medal, Sunday afternoon, at the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club.
After Saturday’s first two rounds, No. 5 Georgia led the 18-team field with a 14-stroke advantage and later finished the competition carding a 10-under 854, six strokes better than runner-up Alabama, which recorded a 4-under 860.
Senior Chris Kirk held a three-stroke lead going into the final round and finished the tournament with a 6-under 210.
Georgia Southern finished the tournament in seventh place, carding a 23-over 887, having jumped from 14th place after Saturday’s first two rounds.
“We came back and had the third lowest round (288) today, which is satisfying,” said head coach Larry Mays. “We hung in there and I saw a good amount of grit in our players today. That’s what we needed. I’m proud of the boys for hanging in there and getting a good round and moving seven spots up the leader board is definitely a big boost for us.”
Starting on the back nine, Georgia Southern senior Bryan Jones (Atlanta, Ga.) fired a career-low 6-under 66 in the third and final round, and finished the tournament tied for seventh place, recording an even-par 216. Jones fired five consecutive birdies on holes 12 through 16, and later shot an ace on the third hole. It was Jones’ first career ace and the tournament’s second this weekend as Arizona’s Ben Fox fired a hole in one on the six.
“He played a phenomenal round, which was the low round of the tournament,” said Mays. “He had a good time out there and held it together. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Junior Chris Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) followed Jones tying for 31st place after carding a 6-over 222. Sophomore Ryan LeFevre (Boca Raton, Fla.) finished the tournament 9-over 225, tying for 41st place, while junior Drew Lethem (Overland Park, Kans.) and sophomore Jordan Johnstun (Evans, Ga.) tied for 58th place shooting a 12-over 228.
“Today the team was controlling what they were doing,” explained Mays. “They may not have hit all of them perfectly, but at least they were committed to their shots and they went ahead and hit it. They looked more committed to playing a good round and not worrying about the outcome of the round as much as they were yesterday. It wasn’t playing easy out there today. So for us to hang in there and shoot even-par, that’s pretty solid.”
With the seventh-place finish, Georgia Southern bettered three opponents ranked in the top-25, including No. 13 Tennessee, No. 15 North Carolina, and No. 19 Minnesota, according to this last Golf Stat polls.
“Hopefully that round (three) will give us some added confidence knowing that we can beat some of the better teams in the country,” said Mays. “It will be a good field at Augusta so hopefully we can go there with a little more confidence and take care of business for three rounds instead of just one. We’ve played two good final rounds so now we just need to get off to a good start.”
“The field itself just goes to show you the commitment that both the community and E-Z-GO have for this tournament. It’s one of the premier events in college golf and we’re happy to be a co-host with the community.”
Georgia’s Chris Kirk was one of four Bulldogs to finish among the top eleven places, including runner-up Brendon Todd, shooting a 4-under 212, Adam Mitchell, who tied for fourth at 1-under 213, and Brian Harman tying for 11th with a 1-over 217.
The Eagles have two weeks to prepare for their next competition, March 30 through April 1 at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational in Evans, Ga.