STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men’s golf team shot the lowest round for the second straight day Sunday and finished second in the 39th annual Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club.
The Eagles shot a 10-under 278 and finished with a team score of 843 (-21), the lowest at the tournament in school history, beating the 2015 team by a stroke.
Vanderbilt (-29), which came into the day with a 12-stroke lead over the host Eagles, shot a 6-under 282 to win the tournament, and NC State shot a 282 to move up two places into third. Mississippi State (-13) placed fourth, Kentucky (-12) was fifth and Florida (-10) took sixth.
Vanderbilt brought home its second Schenkel title in the last three years, while Georgia Southern placed second in the tournament for the second straight year and has finished in the top-6 in five of the last six seasons.
Vandy’s Theo Humphrey (-13) won medalist honors and became the second straight Commodore to win the tournament. Patrick Martin took medalist honors last year.
Georgia Southern senior Jake Storey (-11) blistered the front 9 with a 30 and finished with a 67 to tie for second with classmate Archer Price, who fired a 69. Storey and Price both finished with a three-round total of 205, the second lowest for an Eagle at the Schenkel. Buddy Alexander posted a 203 (-13) in 1975.
Stephen Franken of NC State fired a 65, the lowest round of the day, to climb eight spots into the three-way tie for second.
Georgia Southern junior Steven Fisk (-8) shot 68 to tie for eighth. Crawford Simmons shot a 74 for the Eagles, and Brett Barron notched a 78.
Jacob Bayer shot 69 to lead the GS individuals, while Jonas Vaisanen finished with a 71 and Alexander DeRosa posted 72. Avery Price shot 74, and Luukas Alakulppi carded a 77.
Vaisanen (-1) tied for 23rd and Bayer (+1) tied for 37th. The tournament field featured 13 teams and eight individuals ranked in the top-100.
The story
Led by Storey, Price and Fisk, the Eagle counters combined to shoot 11-under on the front nine.
Storey made birdie on 4, 5 and 6 and made eagle on 7 before birdieing 9 to shoot 30 on the front. The senior added birdies on 17 and 18.
Price made birdie at 4, 6 and 9 to shoot 33 on the front, and the senior added birdies at 10, 12 and 18.
Fisk rolled in seven birdies on the day and made birdies at 3, 5 and 9 to shoot 33 on the front. He birdied three straight holes on the back and added another on 18.
Bayer started his day at the 10th hole and played the back nine clean with birdies on 17 and 18. The freshman played his final eight holes 2-under, adding birdies on 5 and 9.
Vaisanen played a clean back nine with a birdie on 11 and made birdies on 2 and 6 on his way to shooting an even-36 on the front.
DeRosa, who teed off on hole 10, made eagle at 18 to ignite his round and shot 1-under on the front after making birdie on two of his last three holes.
Quotables Coach Carter Collins
On the last two rounds of the Schenkel
“I think the whole team did a good job of putting four scores together in the last two rounds, and Jake, Archer and Steven really kept their foot on the pedal and made a lot of birdies on the weekend. I’m very proud of our overall team performance.”
On gaining momentum for next event
“The team has earned momentum heading into a new event for us, The Hootie at Bulls Bay. This team has been competing really hard all year. Our goal is to compete for a national championship, and we still have a few events between now and then to get the lineup the best we can.”
On The Hootie at Bulls Bay
“One of our big fundamental philosophies is preparation that goes into an event. We look forward to that part of it because that allows us to let it go when the tournament begins. So, it’s just another work week for us.”
Next up
The Eagles have a quick turnaround and travel to The Hootie at Bulls Bay March 25-27, at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.