Blondell Finishes Third, Leads Eagle Comeback for Top-Five Finish
STATESBORO, Ga. - Freshman Logan Blondell paced an impressive team comeback as Georgia Southern shot the day’s lowest round and team season-low 7-under 281 to jump up six spots and finish tied for fifth place at the 29th Annual Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational. The 18-team tournament was played at the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
For the first time in its 18-year participation in the tournament, No. 2 ranked Alabama took home the Schenkel E-Z-GO team title to claim a school record fifth team championship on the season. The Crimson Tide battled it out with No. 12 Florida and No. 20 South Carolina in the final 18 to secure the victory and lead runner-up Florida by seven strokes, finishing the three-day tournament shooting a 15-under 849.
South Carolina’s George Bryan IV broke Saturday’s six-way tie for first place to claim individual medalist honors finishing at 8-under 208. He led runner-up Michael Thompson of Alabama by one stroke.
Pacing the Eagles with a third-place finish was Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) who shot a day low 4-under 68 that included four birdies on his last eight holes. His 68 matched a season low set earlier this season. Blondell moved up the standings nine spots from Saturday’s 12th-place finish to conclude the tournament shooting a 6-under 210, which is GSU’s best individual performance since Eagle great and 1989 Schenkel E-Z-GO medalist Richie Bryant shot an 8-under 208 in 1989.
“For Logan, to get his second top-three finish, that’s a big step for him, which means he can play with some of the best players in the country,” said head coach Larry Mays.
Equally as impressive was the team comeback the Eagles made after making the jump from Friday’s 14th place finish.
“It was a great performance today,” said Mays. “It was a team effort. It proves that we can play with the big schools. Overall, it was a great comeback for the team, to come back from 14th, to 11th, to fifth, that’s a great performance.”
Junior Ryan LeFevre (Boca Raton, Fla.) shot a season-low 3-under 69 on the day, and tied a season-low 2-over 218 to finish tied for 25th place.
Junior Drew Lethem (Camdenton, Mo.) wasn’t far behind with a 2-under 70 on the day and a tie for 33rd place at 4-over 220.
Junior Ryan Zabroske (Alpharetta, Ga.) shot a 2-over 74 in his final round to finish tied for 60th place at 9-over 225, while junior Jordan Johnstun (Evans, Ga.) shot a 75 on the day to round out the team scoring and finish tied for 65th place at 10-over 226.
The top-five finish is Georgia Southern’s third on the season with one more tournament remaining before the Southern Conference championship at the end of April.
“It’s a good confidence booster for the remainder of the year, especially leading into the Southern Conference championship,” added Mays. “Hopefully it will give us the confidence to compete for a conference championship.”
Competing individually for the Eagles was freshman Joe Monte (Chantilly, Va.) who finished tied for 13th place after shooting a season-low even-par 216.
Also competing individually was sophomore Spencer Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.) who finished tied for 28th carding a career-low 3-over 219.
Sophomore Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.) competed individually shooting a 17-over 233 and finished tied for 83rd place.
Georgia Southern tied with No. 29 UAB, and finished the tournament with victories over (Golfweek ranking): LSU (48), Kentucky, North Florida (46), North Carolina (23), Augusta State (44), Auburn (11), Notre Dame, Michigan State (15), Minnesota, North Carolina State (38), New Mexico and Boston College.
Bowman in the hunt, UNCG fifth after opening round at Pinehurst Intercollegiate
PINEHURST, N.C. ? Will Bowman is in the hunt after carding a 74 to help UNCG to a fifth place standing after the first round at the Pinehust Intercollegiate presented by Gatorade.
Bowman, a sophomore from Greensboro, NC, is tied for ninth, five shots behind individual leader Seth Brandon of Indiana. Bowman got off to a bumpy start. Teeing off at No. 10 to begin the day, he bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12, but played the rest of the day at even par with four birdies and four bogeys. In fact, Bowman could have been within three of the lead, but he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 to close out the round.
Nathan Stamey is one shot back of Bowman in a tie for 12th. He also started on the back side, playing the back 9 in 38 and finishing the front side in 37.
Indiana ran out to a huge lead in the team standings. The Hoosiers hold a 17-shot lead entering Monday’s second round over VCU and Ball State. Eastern Kentucky is fourth at 304 and UNCG is fifth after carding a team score of 305.
Monday’s tee times begin at 8 am off both Nos. 1 and 10. UNCG’s players will get started off of No. 1 tee beginning with the 8:45 group.
AGATE
TEAM STANDINGS: Indiana 286, Ball State 303, VCU 303, Eastern Kentucky 304, UNCG 305, UNC Wilmington 306, Western Carolina 307, San Francisco 308, Wisconsin 308, St. Mary’s (CA) 309, East Carolina 311, Toledo 311, Penn State 312, Marquette 314, Marshall 315, Miami (OH) 316, Hartford 316, Western Illinois 322, IUPUI 333.
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS: 1. Seth Brandon (Indiana) 69, 2. Ren Han (Indiana), T-3. Jorge Campillo (Indiana) 71, T-3. Mike McRae (St. Mary’s-CA) 71; T-5.
Ross Cosat (Ball State) 72, T-5. Markus Leandersson (East Carolina) 72; T-5. Justin Moore (Eastern Kentucky) 72; 8. EJ Kahn (San Francisco) 73.
T-9. Will Bowman (UNCG) 74, T-9. Harvin Groft (Penn State) 74; T-9. Justin Hull (Toledo) 74.
Other UNCG Golfers: T-12. Nathan Stamey 75, T-26. Drew Younts 77, T-51.
Darragh Coughlan 79, T-88. John Isenhour 83.
Wofford men's golf completes Hawai'i tournament
LIHUE, Hawai'i -- The Wofford men's golf team lowered its score by six strokes during the final round to finish ninth out of 11 schools this weekend at the Kaua'i Collegiate Cup at the Wailua Golf Course in Lihue, Hawai'i. The Western Kentucky-hosted tournament, which saw the teams compete Friday and Saturday, was contested on the par 72, 6,981-yard course and was the furthest competition from Spartanburg, S.C., for a Terrier golf team in program history covering nearly 4,675 miles.
Sophomore Garrett Medeiros and junior Drew Perry finished as the top Wofford individuals, tying for 26th. Medeiros fired a 76-77-78--231 (+15), while Perry posted a 78-78-75--231 (+15) to outlast his cousin, WKU's Justin Perry, by four strokes.
Medeiros' classmates Mike McKenzie and Kirk Whitehead were the next Terriers in the clubhouse. McKenzie registered a 79-77-79--235 (+19) to tie for 34th. Whitehead carded a 47th-place result of 84-81-75--240 (+24).
Junior Neil O'Briain withdrew from the final two rounds following an opening 18 holes of 75 Friday.
Vanderbilt won the team title by 28 shots over defending champion Oklahoma Christian. The Commodores' Hudson Johnson captured the individual medalist honor with a 6-under par 210.
Wofford will return to the links at the end of the month when it participates in the Furman Intercollegiate, March 28-30, in Greenville, S.C., before hosting the 21st Annual Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational March 31-April 1 at The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, S.C.
Wofford Individuals:
T26--Garrett Medeiros, 76-77-78--231 (+15)
T26--Drew Perry, 78-78-75--231 (+15)
T34--Mike McKenzie, 79-77-79--235 (+19)
47--Kirk Whitehead, 84-81-75--240 (+24)
WD--Neil O'Briain, 75-WD-WD
Top-10 Individuals:
1--Hudson Johnson (Vanderbilt), 72-75-63--210 (-6)
T2--Brandon Crick (Gonzaga), 75-70-69--214 (-2)
T2--Jon Curran (Vanderbilt), 69-72-73--214 (-2)
T2--Rhein Gibson (Oklahoma Christian), 70-70-74--214 (-2)
T5--Bruno Buccolo (Oklahoma Christian), 76-70-70--216 (E)
T5--Billy Whalen (Vanderbilt), 75-69-72--216 (E)
7--Matthew Carvell (Southeastern Louisiana), 73-71-74--218 (+2)
T8--Cody Hale (Lipscomb), 74-75-70--219 (+3)
T8--Ryan Haselden (Vanderbilt), 71-77-71--219 (+3)
10--John Murphy (Old Dominion), 74-70-76--220 (+4)
Team Standings:
1--Vanderbilt, 287-289-279--855 (-9)
2--Oklahoma Christian, 296-292-295--883 (+19)
3--Gonzaga, 301-297-295--893 (+29)
4--Southeastern Louisiana, 300-296-303--899 (+35)
5--Old Dominion, 312-293-295--900 (+36)
6--Lipscomb, 303-308-297--908 (+44)
7--UT-Pan American, 312-300-299--911 (+47)
8--Western Kentucky, 310-315-299--924 (+60)
9--Wofford, 308-313-307--928 (+64)
10--West Liberty State, 326-325-319--970 (+106)
11--Hawai'i Pacific, 338-317-322--977 (+113)