BIRMINGHAM, AL. – The Georgia Southern men’s golf team fired a team total of 295, the third- lowest score in today’s final round, to finish sixth at the Shoal Creek Invitational Tuesday, September 30th, 2014, at Shoal Creek Country Club.
North Florida (-5) carded a 287 to overtake two-time defending national champion Alabama (-2), which finished second after posting a 296 today. Tournament host UAB (E) placed third followed by Ole Miss (+14), Memphis (+15) and Georgia Southern (+16). Southeastern Louisiana (+20) was seventh, and Central Florida (+22) took eighth.
The Eagles had a chance to finish in the top-5 but were hurt by their final hole of the day, the 462-yard, par-4 9th hole. Scott Wolfes hit his tee shot in the rough and flew his second shot into a green side bunker with a tough shot coming out towards the water. His bunker shot wound up in the water, and when it was all said and done, the senior had to run in a 5-footer to make a triple bogey.
“It was a tough day out there, and the scores show that,” said Georgia Southern Director of Golf Larry Mays. “I thought all five guys played hard and really solid, and I’m proud of the fight and resolve. We just had a really tough break at the end. Our goal was to win the day and finish in the top-5, and we had the third-lowest score of the round and finished a stroke away from the goal.”
Henry Mabbett and Matt Mierzejewski each had their-second best finishes in collegiate competition. Mabbett shot a 72 to tie for 14th, and Mierzejewski carded a 73 to tie for 17th. Wolfes shot a 76 and tied for 10th for the 17th top-10 finish of his career, and Charlie Martin carded a 74 and tied for 31st.
Archer Price posted a 76 and tied for 40th in his first collegiate tournament, and Kim Koivu, who played as an individual this week, shot 77 and tied for 38th.
North Florida’s Joey Petronio (-11) matched a tournament low with a 66 to take medalist honors, and Alabama’s Tom Lovelady (-10) posted a 70 and placed second.
Mabbett had two birdies and three bogeys on his first nine but got rolling on his back nine as the junior carded two birdies and seven pars to get back to even. Mierzejewski had two birdies and two bogeys on his first nine to make the turn at even par and made eight straight pars at one point before a bogey on hole 7 left him 1-over.
Wolfes, who entered the day tied for fifth, birdied his second hole of the day and made the turn at 1-over after a double bogey on 17. He was 1-over through 17 holes, posting birdies on 3 and 6 and bogeys on 4 and 5, but the triple on hole 9 moved him from a tie for fifth into a tie for 10th.
Martin got two birdies in a row early in his round to fall to 1-under but a bogey on hole 15 and a double on 16 pushed him to 2-over. The senior played his final nine holes at even par with two birdies and two bogeys for a 74.
Price played his first nine holes at 1-over and was 1-over through 12 holes, but he had three bogeys on his final six holes for a 76. Koivu was hurt by double bogeys on holes 4 and 10. He played the other 16 holes at 1-over, posting five birdies and six bogeys. The senior finished strong with birdies on holes 16 and 17.
Georgia Southern is back in action at NC State’s Wolfpack Intercollegiate October 6-7, 2014 at Lonnie Poole Golf Course.