Cougars Earn Runner-Up Finish
HOLLYWOOD, S.C. - Behind top-10 finishes from sophomore John Duke Hudson (Sonora, Texas) and freshman Alex Ellis (Austin, Texas) the College of Charleston men's golf team finished in second-place Tuesday at the Charleston Shootout.
Hudson shot the third best final round score of 70 and finished the tournament with an even-par 216 and tied for fifth-place. Ellis got to as high as fourth on the leaderboard and finished tied for 10th with a one-over 217 total.
No. 59 Baylor won the team title with an eight-under score of 856, while CofC finished 14 strokes back at a six-over 870.
The Cougars, ranked No. 98 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll, finished ahead of No. 85 Campbell by 11 strokes.
CofC Head Coach Mark McEntire said he was pleased with how his team did and knows when everyone plays well the Cougars can be a very dangerous team.
College of Charleston
T5 John Duke Hudson 73 73 70 216 (E)
T8 Alex Ellis 72 70 75 217 (+1)
T20 Seth Stuart 73 74 74 221 (+5)
T38 Parker Allen 78 70 78 226 (+10)
T43 Coy Breen 72 82 74 228 (+12)
Team Scores
Baylor 285 287 284 856 -8
Charleston, Coll. of 290 287 293 870 +6
Radford University 294 289 296 879 +15
Campbell University 287 297 297 881 +17
Charleston Southern 290 296 300 886 +22
Stetson University 298 293 297 888 +24
Longwood University 302 295 294 891 +27
USC Upstate 299 289 308 896 +32
Gardner-Webb U. 293 296 308 897 +33
High Point U. 299 300 303 902 +38
Newberry College 295 306 302 903 +39
Villanova University 302 299 305 906 +42
Presbyterian College 305 301 300 907 +43
Western Kentucky U. 309 300 313 922 +58
Navy 305 315 310 930 +66
Georgia Southern Maintains Position at John Hayt
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - Steady play by Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) in windy conditions at the par-72, 6,942-yard Sawgrass Country Club allowed the senior to finish tied for 31st at the John Hayt Invitational. His play, coupled with improved rounds from teammates in the five-man lineup on Tuesday, March 1st, helped Georgia Southern maintain its 13th position on the final day. Arkansas, which started seven strokes back from Auburn in second place, posted a final round 5-under 283 to finish two strokes ahead of the Tigers for first place (285-299-283=867). Florida's Phillip Choi, tied for first place coming into the final round, pulled away from the pack with a 2-under 70 to win individual medalist honors.
"We just made a few bogeys and missed some birdie opportunities," said Head Coach Larry Mays on the Eagles' final-round performance. "The golf course wasn't easy, but it wasn't impossible to post good scores. We are all playing the same. Nobody has broken away from the pack and has had a great round."
Blondell mirrored his second round, shooting a 4-over 76, to capture his best finish at the John Hayt Invitational in three trips. Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) both tied for 46th place. Anderson carded a birdie on a par-4 (#11) to sign for a 5-over 77, one-stroke better than his previous round. Sander fired four birdies, three on the back nine, to finish with a pair of 77s for the final two rounds at the John Hayt.
Recording just one birdie on his first nine holes of the day, Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) recorded a birdie on two of his final three holes to a 77 (+5). Tuesday's score matched Anderson and Sander, and helped Gruber finish in a tie for 63rd place.
Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.), competing as an individual, finished one-stroke back from Gruber in a tie for 68th place. Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) closed out the tournament in 77th place.
Six teams from the John Hayt Invitational will compete this month at the 32nd Schenkel Invitational. Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, North Florida and Tennessee join the 15-team field at the par-72, 6,947-yard Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro March 18-20th.
Georgia Southern has one more tournament before competing in the Schenkel Invitational. The Eagles will travel to the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate March 7-8 at the Palmetto Golf Club in Akien, S.C.
"We have to score and take advantage of our good shots," stated Mays. "When we do hit bad shots, we have to recover and get the ball up and down."