Georgia Southern Finishes Ties for Fourth at Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. ? Georgia Southern golf maintained the same position it held after Friday’s first two rounds, finishing tied for fourth place at the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate, Saturday afternoon, held at the par-72, 6,854-yard Devil’s Ridge Golf Club.

Junior Drew Lethem (Overland Park, Kan.) led the Eagles shooting a season-best 1-under 215 for the weekend, tying for ninth place.  Lethem’s third round 2-under 70 is a season-low, contributing to a final total that was just seven strokes behind medalist Mitch Cohlmia of Tulsa who shot an 8-under 208.

No. 24 Charlotte edged Cohlmia’s Tulsa team by just a pair of strokes to take the team title, shooting a 12-under 852.  Following No. 16 Tulsa in third place was No. 25 Duke carding a 2-under 862, followed by Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt in fourth place at 6-over 870.

With the finish, Georgia Southern posted wins over No. 18 North Carolina, No. 37 UAB, No. 45 Augusta State, No. 47 Virginia Tech and host North Carolina State.

Following Lethem’s performance, the next Eagle was senior Bryan Jones (Atlanta, Ga.) tying for 14th place shooting an even-par 216.  Sophomore Jordan Johnstun (Evans, Ga.), who gave the Eagles a strong outing in Friday’s 36 holes, finished tied for 20th place with a 2-over 218.

“We got off to a bit of a struggle today,” said head coach Larry Mays.  “But we rallied after the turn and played a couple difficult holes pretty well.  I was proud of them for hanging in there.  We’re getting more guys playing better.  Drew played steady all day.  Bryan played solid this weekend.  We played three solid rounds and hopefully it will give us some good momentum going into the SoCon tournament next weekend.

This weekend’s competition was the last tournament before heading into the Southern Conference Championship, April 22-24 to be played at the Country Club of Southern Carolina in Florence, S.C.