Cougars Start Strong in Home Tournament
HOLLYWOOD, S.C. - Led by a two-under performance from freshman Alex Ellis (Austin, Texas), the College of Charleston men's golf team is in second-place after two rounds of the Charleston Shootout at The Links at Stono Ferry.
Ellils, last week's SoCon Men's Golfer of the Week, shot rounds of 72 and 70 and is tied for 10th place individually.
The Cougars trail No. 59 ranked Baylor on the leaderboard by just five shots, going into the last 18 holes tomorrow. The final round will have tee times, with the Cougars playing with Baylor and Radford in the final groups, set to go off at 9:30a.m.
College of Charleston Head Coach Mark McEntire said he was pleased with where the team is at heading into the final round of competition.
"I'm thrilled that we are right there with a chance to beat a really good golf team and win the tournament," he said. "Our team played well today and i think we are capable of playing even better tomorrow."
Charleston Shootout Scores: CofC
T10. Alex Ellis 72-70-142 (-2)
T19.John Duke Hudson 73-73-146 (+2)
T22. Seth Stuart 73-74-147 (+3)
T26. Parker Allen 78-70-148 (+4)
T51. Coy Breen 72-82-154 (+10)
Skeadas, Fountain Lead Davidson Golf at Windy Seahawk Intercollegiate
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Davidson men's golf team placed in a tie for seventh(919=297+305+317), led by top-20 finishes by underclassmen John Skeadas and Richard Fountain, after the final round of the Seahawk Invitational Monday, hosted by UNC Wilmington on the Nicklaus Course at the Country Club of Landfall.
The Wildcats were hoping to move back into the top five after standing in sixth place following the second round Sunday, but 30 mile per hour winds Monday proved difficult to contend with.
Skeadas and Fountain both placed in a tie for 18th place in the three-round tournament, finishing at 224, eight-over par, on the par-72, 6918-yard course. Skeadas was within four strokes of the lead after two rounds Sunday(145=72+73), but fired a 79 in the final round. Fountain (73+78+73) moved into the top-20 after leading the Wildcats on the final day with a one-over-par 73.
Junior Jackson Taylor (235, 40th place), freshman Sam Echikson (237, t-43rd) and senior Bobby Urso (244, t-58th) also competed for Davidson.
No. 26 Wake Forest led the 12-team field entering the final round, but fired a 310 to fall down to third place at 888. UNC Wilmington won at 879 (290+293+296), while Liberty took second at 883 (303+285+295). Thomas Bass (UNCW) took medalist honors with an even-par 217 (71+73+72). Davidson was the lone Southern Conference team in the field and finished tied with North Carolina (919=301+304+314).
Davidson will next compete in the Furman Intercollegiate, March 18-20.
Georgia Southern Battles Tough Conditions at John Hayt
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - One day removed from tying his best round at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, Logan Blondell's (Lakeland, Ga.) 4-over 76 on Monday helped the senior maintain a tie for 29th place. His Monday score kept Georgia Southern within reach of a top-10 finish going into Tuesday's final round at the par-72, 6,942-yard Sawgrass Country Club. Auburn, recording a 7-over 295 in the second round, leads the field with a 1-over 577 for the tournament. The Tigers also have a share of the lead in the individual standings as Blayne Barber is tied with Arkansas' Sebastian Cappelen and Florida's Phillip Choi for first place with a 5-under 139 total.
"The conditions changed dramatically today, and when the wind blows it's a tough golf course," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "We could have shot 300, which would've been a good score considering the conditions. We could not finish coming down the last stretch of holes. We are still within reach of a good finish. Our team just needs to come back and play well tomorrow."
Sawgrass Country Club, where water comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes and features well-bunkered greens, can play under more difficult conditions when high winds are a factor. That was the case Tuesday as only one team in the 15-team field posted a better score in the second round compared to the first. The average team-total score for Monday's second round was 13 strokes higher than the 18 holes played on Sunday.
The Eagles, playing in a field that features nine teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin Top 50 rankings, are currently in 13th place and only six strokes behind ninth place with a 603 (292-311) total. Blondell recorded Georgia Southern's lowest round of the day. Two birdies on par-5s coming into the clubhouse helped him sign for his 4-over 76.
Teammates Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) posted scores within one stroke of each other to finish the second round in a tie for 36th place. Anderson, battling tough play on the back-stretch, sunk a birdie on his 13th hole of the day to finish 6-over (78). Sander, who got a birdie to drop on the final hole of his round, carded a 5-over 77.
Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.), competing as an individual, positioned himself in a tie for 58th place by posting birdies on the par-4 16th and par-5 eighth to finish the day at 6-over (78). Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished two strokes behind Ware with an 8-over 80 while Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) goes into the final round with a 162 two-round total.
Georgia Southern will be paired with Jacksonville and UAB for the final round. Will Evans will tee off first for the Eagles on the 10th hole beginning at 8:36 a.m. Tuesday, March 1st.
Fans can get live scoring of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational by visiting www.golfstat.com.