Davidson Freshman Fountain Wins Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate In Playoff
PORTER, Ga. - Competing in just his third-career intercollegiate golf tournament, Davidson men's golf freshman Richard Fountain earned his first collegiate win, taking individual medalist honors after edging Georgia Southern's Logan Blondell on the fifth playoff hole at the Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate hosted by Georgia Southern Tuesday at the Savannah Quarters Country Club. As a team Davidson finished seventh in the three-round tournament at 872 (292+290+290).
Fountain (Raleigh, N.C.) fired the lowest score of the final round, a six-under-par 66, to tie Blondell, a senior, at 206, 10-under par. Fountain had started the day in ninth place after firing a pair of two-under 70's the first day, while Blondell started in fourth place, two strokes ahead.
Fountain, a Broughton H.S. graduate, entered Davidson College as the 67th ranked golfer nationally in the high school Class of 2010 by Golfweek. He tied the Carolina Country Club single-round record in July, firing a 12-under-par 59.
He is the first Wildcat golfer to earn the medalist trophy since sophomore Jackson Taylor (Wilmington, N.C.) tied for the honor at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate last February.
Classmate Sam Echikson (Brussels, Belgium) moved up three spots from the first day to 18th with a one-under-par 71 to finish even at 216 on the par-72, 7016-yard Greg Norman designed course.
Senior Ryan Crum (South Salem, N.Y.) and sophomore John Skeadas (Savannah, Ga.) rounded out Davidson's scoring group for the third-and-final round, with a 76 and 77 respectively. The pair finished tied at 229. Senior Bobby Urso (Beverly Hills, Mich.) finished one-stroke ahead at 228.
Florida Gulf Coast won the tournament by 17 strokes, finishing 20-under-par at 844. Southern Conference foe Wofford placed second at 861, three-under-par. Winthrop and Troy tied for third at 865, one-over-par.
Jacksonville (866) and Georgia College & State (869) edged Davidson to round out the top-six of the 14-team tournament. The Wildcats maintained their lead over league opponents Elon and Georgia Southern. Elon (872) was three-strokes behind Davidson in eighth place, while Georgia Southern tied for 12th with Charleston Southern at 888.
The Wildcats will next compete Monday and Tuesday at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C. when they host the annual Davidson College Invitational.
Terriers Take Second Led by Joye at Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate
SAVANNAH, GA. -- Led by Mark Joye's opening two rounds of four under 68 the Wofford College Terriers finished in second place at the Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate at the Savannah Quarters Country Club.
Joye, whose 68 ties the school record for lowest 18-hole rounds, repeated his performance three hours later with another round of 68. Joye fired a 136 through two rounds on Monday and finished in a tie for sixth place after shooting a 75 in the third round for a final score of 211.
Chandler Brazeal shot a one-over 73, a one-under 71 and a two-under 70 for a final score of 214. Brent Whitehead posted a two-over 74, a two-under 70 and a 75 for a total of 219. Zach Capps fired an even par 72 in round one and shot a 75 in round two, while Brent McKenize shot a final round two-under 70 to round out the Terriers combined lowest scores. McKenzie and Capps finished with scores of 222 and 225 respectively.
Wofford posted a team score of 861 (-3) over the three rounds. They finished 17 shots behind team winner Florida Gulf Coast, who shot an 844 (-20).
The Terriers had lower scores than three other Southern Conference teams in the tournament: Davidson (872), Elon (875) and Georgia Southern (888).
Wofford will tee off again November 18th and 19th at the Davidson College Invitational in Cornelius, N.C.
Blondell Second at 2010 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate after Five-hole Playoff
POOLER, Ga.- Florida Gulf Coast, in first place since the first round, shot a tournament best 20-under 844 to win the 2010 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate at the par-72 7,016 yard Savannah Quarters Country Club. Wofford finished 17-strokes back in second place (287-284-290=861). Both Winthrop and Troy stayed in the top five from the first day of tournament play by firing final rounds of 288 and 291 respectively, to finish in a tie for third. Jacksonville rounded out the 'Top 5' with a 1-over 865. Georgia Southern finished the tournament tied for 12th place with Charleston Southern.
The most impressive day for the Eagles came from senior Logan Blondell. Blondell and Davidson's Richard Fountain emerged from a six-man field that was two-strokes within the lead coming into today's final round. Both Blondell and Fountain carded high 60s which led the two golfers to end the final round in a tie for first at 10-under 206, forcing a playoff to determine the 2010 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate individual winner. Fountain shot a 6-under 66 to get into the playoff, which included three birdies each on the front and back nine.
Blondell signed for a final-round 68 that included four birdies, two on par-4s and one birdie on a par-5 and par-3. The Lakeland, Fla., native shot a career low-54 206 (70-67-68) and tied a career-low 18 when he fired a second-round 5-under 67. Blondell's other 67 came at the 2008 Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate, where he finished first after a two-hole playoff. This time, both players would battle for five holes until an individual won.
Fountain and Blondell both responded in pressure situations on the 18th hole, which was the site for the first four playoff holes. Both made birdies on the first playoff hole with Blondell's ball dropping in from 10 feet and Fountain's from 20 feet. The second trip to the 18th hole green saw both players par. Blondell and Fountain both birdied the hole on their third trip to the 18th green and got shuttled back to the 18th tee-box for the fourth time. Blondell had a 16-footer for birdie that broke left inches away from the cup that left both players for par and a fifth playoff hole.
Both players agreed to move the playoff to the 10th hole, which saw Fountain win the individual title sinking a difficult birdie putt. Blondell's second place is his best finish of the season.
"Overall for the week I played really well," said Blondell. "I'm happy where my game is at, I wish I would've come out one shot better but I can't change anything now and I'm very pleased with the way the week went. We are just going to take it day-by-day and hopefully keep progressing for the future."
This is the second time in three years Blondell has finished first or runner-up. Something that he credits his work ethic and time spent on a course that's close to Statesboro.
"Playing a course multiple times and getting as many reps out on any course is a huge advantage, especially at a course like Savannah Quarters, which is visually intimidating'" Blondell said. "For this course, the more you play it, the more you get past the visual side of it and you realize there are good scores out there to be had, and you just have to go do it."
Blondell did just that, shooting in the red all three rounds (71-67-68).
"Logan played great," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "He got into a playoff and lost in a five-hole playoff which was unbelievable golf to watch at the end. To birdie the 18th hole twice for both players was pretty phenomenal; then to play well on number 10, two of the hardest holes out here; for them to put on that kind of show is something special. I told him as a team leader, he led as well as you can lead this week. Now we have to get some of those guys to buy-in and follow."
Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.) both shot 3-over 75 to finish in a tie for 44th and 55th respectively. Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) finished six strokes back from Deal with a 232 and Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.) finished the tournament with a 237.
Competing as an individual, Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) shot 1-under 215 (67-71-77) to finish in a tie for 14th, his best finish as an Eagle. Fellow classmate Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) shot even-par on the final round to finish with a 233. Others competing as individuals were Thomas Sharkey (Helensburgh, Scotland) and Drew Guffey (Bartow, Fla.).
"We didn't play well again today," Mays said. "Other than Logan, we basically didn't compete all week. We will have to get home, work hard and fix it and hopefully get a little fire in these guys' bellies to want to compete harder and work to get better."
The Eagles will go back to the Bennett-Ramsey Golf Center and prepare for the David Toms Intercollegiate October 18-19, the last tournament of the fall campaign. The fall season has given different players collegiate tournament experience that will be helpful going into the spring.
"The one nice thing about the fall is we've played a lot of different people and we've gotten a lot of different people in the lineup. We had freshman Will Evans, who had a pretty good tournament, he shot under-par for the tournament and had a great first day. He didn't play as well as today but that's a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can continue to make those positive steps."
Dressel Places 10th at Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate
POOLER, Ga. -- Stephen Dressel completed his third and final round of play at the Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate with a two-under 214 (65-76-73) to finish in a tie for 10th place and help lead the Elon Phoenix (295289-291--875) men's golf team to an eighth-place showing. Florida Gulf Coast took home the team title with an 844 (281-275-288), defeating second-place Wofford (287-284-290--861) by 17 strokes.
Dressel finished the tournament by going two-under on the par three holes and making 14 birdies.
Tanner Norton's score of 219 (79-68-72) placed him in a tie for 26th among the field's 81 participants. A stroke back of Norton was John Somers who placed in a tie for 31st with a score of 220 (77-68-75). Somers tallied 12 birdies and an eagle during his three rounds of play.
Leif Neijstrom carded a 222 (74-77-71) to finish in a tie for 39th while Jack Adkins placed in a tie for 79th with a score of 240 (81-83-76).
Trailing Florida Gulf Coast and Wofford in the 14-team field were Winthrop (291-286-288--865) and Troy (285-290-290--865) in a tie for third and Jacksonville (285-290-291--866) in fifth.
Elon defeated one Southern Conference rival, besting Georgia Southern who tied for 12th with a score of 888 (297-294-297).
Davidson's Richard Fountain won a five-hole playoff with Georgia Southern's Logan Blondell for individual honors. Both finished their three rounds with a score of 206.
The Phoenix men will return to the links next Monday, Oct. 18 when the squad will participate in the Davidson College Invitational.
SAMFORD MEN'S GOLF: BULLDOGS CLOSE OUT PLAY IN TALENT-LADEN JERRY PATE INTERCOLLEGIATE
--- Samford will next be in action Monday and Tuesday at the 2010 Austin Peay Invitational ---
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University men's golf team carded a three-round score of 907 (298-298-311) Tuesday at the prestigious 2010 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Alabama at the Old Overton Golf Club. Against a talented field comprised of seven top-25 ranked opponents, the Bulldogs finished 12th in the two-day tournament.
"I think overall this was a good experience for our team," said Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks. "This is one of the top tournaments of the fall season and our guys were in a position to finish in the top half of the field. I thought we played well in the first two rounds, but today we just missed a few shots that we normally make. We've had a great start to the season and now we know of things we need to work on as we head into next week."
Samford was paced in the 2010 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate by sophomores Casey O'Toole (75-79-73) and Drew Aimone (72-73-82), as well as senior Martin Bunt (76-73-78). All three of the Bulldogs' top performers finished with identical three-round scores of 227. O'Toole turned in Samford's best round of Tuesday's competition with a 1-over-par 73.
Sophomore Gabe Hyde registered a 54-hole mark of 231 (75-75-81) for the Bulldogs, while Bill Nabors rounded out the scoring with a final tally of 234 (78-77-79).
Auburn, the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, claimed the championship title of the 2010 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate with a total team score of 829 (275-281-273). The Tigers rallied on the final day of competition to top No. 1-ranked Florida by seven strokes. The Gators finished the event with a three-round score of 836 (278-276-282).
Individually, Auburn's Niclas Carlsson earned the championship title with an 8-under-par 202 (64-68-70).
The Samford University men's golf team will next be in action Monday and Tuesday as the Bulldogs compete in the 2010 Austin Peay Invitational at The Links at Novadell in Hopkinsville, Ky.