DULUTH, Ga. – Steven Fisk shot a career-low 65 to take medalist honors and lead Georgia Southern men’s golf to the team title in the Autotrader Collegiate Classic Tuesday at Berkeley Hills Country Club.
Fisk shot 66-66-65=197 over 54 holes to set the new tournament record and break the Georgia Southern school record by six strokes. Aron Price shot 203 in 2003 and 2005, and Buddy Alexander carded a 203 in the 1975 Schenkel Invitational. Fisk was a stroke better than Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss who posted a 198 to win the Autotrader last year.
Georgia Southern (-17) bested tournament host Georgia State by 24 strokes to claim its first team tournament title since the 2016 Invitational at the Ocean Course. The Eagles’ team total of 847 is tied for the eighth-lowest in school history, and GS has finished in the top-6 in eight of its last nine tournaments, dating back to last season.
Fisk finished 19-under for the tournament to win by 12 strokes. It was his third collegiate tournament win and second in a row as the junior tied for first at the Fighting Irish Classic last week. He has 12 top-10 finishes in his career, including all three events this season.
Brett Barron turned in a 71 today, tied for the fourth-lowest of the round, and tied for seventh at 1-over for the third top-10 finish of the sophomore’s young career. Luukas Alakulppi contributed a 75 to help the Eagles pull away from the field.
Archer Price shot 78 today and tied for 12th for his 13th top-20 finish, and Jake Storey, paced by yesterday’s 67 in the second round, tied for 19th, for his 11th top-20 finish.
Individuals Crawford Simmons shot a 77 and Jacob Bayer carded a 78 today.
The story
The Eagles continued taking advantage of the four par-5s on the course, and the four counters played them 7-under today and 20-under for the tournament. GS led the field in birdies with 53 and led the field in par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring.
Fisk rolled in another seven birdies today, giving him 21 for the tournament. His card was clean again, and he shot par or better on 53 out of the 54 holes in the tournament. Four straight birdies on holes 7-10 today sparked his career-best round.
Barron got off to a rocky start but birdied holes 6 and 7 and finished the front with two pars to shoot 36. He added birdies on holes 10 and 17 on his way to the 71.
Alakulppi also got off to a nervy start but birdied 6 and 7 to shoot 37 on the front and added a birdie on the par-5 15th.
Quotables from Coach Carter Collins
“I’m really proud of the team for earning this victory. Steven played incredible this week, and they earned a really good win in a very good field.”
“This win is validation of all of their hard, and I’m so happy they get to see a reward for their efforts.”
“Coach Metts and I couldn’t be prouder of the team. We are looking forward to continuing our growth through the year.”
Next up
GS wraps up the fall with a trip to Kauai, Hawaii, and the Princeville Makai Invitational Oct. 29-31. The Eagles placed 11th of 19 teams at the event last season.