College of Charleston 3, No. 9 Florida 2
BRADENTON, Fla. – Before heading to Tampa for the Gary Koch Invitational, the College of Charleston men’s golf team earned a significant victory against the No. 9-ranked Florida Gators at the Concession Golf Club, site of the 2015 NCAA Championship.
The Cougars and Gators squared off in match play with sophomore Zach Munroe and freshmen Josh Lorenzetti and Jackson Moore winning their matches to give the Cougars the 3-2 edge.
Munroe beat Tyler McCumber, who finished in second place at the Invitational at the Ocean Course and is the 47th-ranked player in the country, 3-and-2.
Moore and Lorenzetti each beat their opponents, Tommy Mou and AJ Crouch, 2-and-1.
Senior John Duke Hudson and junior Alex Ellis also competed, taking their matches late into the round before falling 2-and-1 and 2-up, respectively.
The College of Charleston men’s golf team will travel to Tampa, Fla., for the 2013 Gary Koch Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.
The tournament, hosted by Auburn and Kentucky, will take place at the Old Memorial Golf Club on a par-72, 7,389 yard layout. The tournament will feature seven schools ranked in the top 50, with six of those schools in the top 26 in the latest Golfstat Rankings.
Davidson ties for fifth at Irish Creek Intercollegiate
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – For the second straight tournament, Richard Fountain and Sam Echikson recorded top-10 finishes and the Davidson men’s golf team came home tied for fifth out of 17 teams at the 2013 Irish Creek Collegiate on Sunday afternoon.
In addition to the host Wildcats and Charlotte 49ers, the field included Akron, Appalachian State, East Carolina, Kansas, Kennesaw State, Louisville, Marshall, Mercer, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Richmond, UNCW, VCU and Xavier.
The 54-hole event was played on the par-71, 7,099-yard The Club at Irish Creek layout.
Fountain, who held the overnight lead after a 5-under 66 in round two, carded a final-round 76 to finish in a tie for fourth at 1-under 212 (70-66-76).
Coming off a tie for seventh in his last outing, Echikson (73-69-72) recorded the Wildcats’ lowest score of the day to place tied for 10th out of 90 competitors.
Also competing for the Wildcats were John Skeadas (T-41st / 223), David Sargent (T-41st / 223) and Todd Eckstein (T-56th / 225). Ralph Blasey (T-83rd / 235) and Alex Nianouris (87th / 237) represented Davidson as individual competitors.
No. 47 North Carolina (282-285-292=859) maintained its second-round lead to capture the team title by two strokes over league-rival and nationally ranked NC State (292-280-289=861). Kennesaw State finished tied for third with Charlotte, which fired a 3-under 281, the lowest round of the day.
Jimmy Beck (67-70-68=205) of Kennesaw State was the only player to record three sub-par rounds en route to the individual title by one shot over Charlotte’s Franco Castro (-7).
Davidson returns to the course April 21-23 at the 2013 Southern Conference Championship in Daniel Island, S.C.
Appalachian State finishes 16th at Irish Creek Intercollegiate
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Despite posting its lowest team score of the tournament, Appalachian State was unable to climb up the leaderboard, remaining in 16th place after the final round of the Irish Creek Intercollegiate on Sunday afternoon at the Club at Irish Creek.
The Mountaineers posted a final-round score of 293 (+9) to go with their 603 from the previous two rounds to finish with an 896 (+44) for the two-day event. The Mountaineers were a shot away from tying Notre Dame for 15th place and 37 strokes behind tournament champion North Carolina, who capture the Intercollegiate with a wire-to-wire win.
On the day, freshman Lee Mitchell led the Mountaineers with a 1-over 72, but junior Casey Komline paced Appalachian for the tournament, scoring a 75-72-75=222 (+9) and tying for 35th place. Mitchell found himself second in the lineup, as he finished with an 80-74-72=226 (+13) to tie for 62nd.
Closely following Mitchell was fellow freshman Caleb Keck, who fired his lowest round of the tournament on Sunday and turned in a 76-78-73=227 (+14). The freshman ended his three rounds tied for 64th.
Senior Josh Nichols and graduate student Daniel Walsh rounded out the Appalachian lineup, as Nichols (+15) finished tied for 68th, while Walsh (+16) tied for 74th.
The Mountaineers return to the links for their final tournament before the Southern Conference Championships, as they take part in the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational on April 15-17 at the Country Club of Spartanburg.