MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Led by a pair of career-low rounds from David Li and Owen Sertl, Georgia State shot a season-low tying 9-under 275 to finish in eighth-place at the Sun Belt Championship at The Raven Golf Club.
Li made eight birdies during the final round to finish with a 6-under par 65. The freshman finished the event at 6-under par and tied for 11th.
Sertl finished with five birdies and no bogeys en route to a 5-under 66. The sophomore finished at 2-over par and tied for 33rd.
The Panthers 275 and 9-under total for the day both matched season-lows for the season. The 275 total was also tied for the seventh-lowest round in program history and third-lowest final round score.
Georgia State’s 843 total for three days also set a season-low and tied for the seventh-lowest score in program history. The Panthers came up just six strokes shy of qualifying for match play for the third time in five years.
“Although we came up short of our goal, I can’t say enough how proud I am of this team,” head coach Chad Wilson said. “I asked them to give me everything they had today, and they really stepped up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but that happens in golf. We had a very young team playing this week and I hope that gives each of our players momentum going into the summer and into next season.”
Junior Josh Edgar shot a final round 3-over 74 to finish at 1-over par and tied for 27th for the 54-hole event. Junior Egill Gunnarsson added a 1-over 72 to finished at 2-over par and tied for 33rd. Senior James Kyles also shot 72 and finished tied for 42nd at 5-over par.
Georgia Southern shot a school-record 21-under 263 to finish at 31-under par and earned the No. 1 seed entering match play on Wednesday. Coastal Carolina finished in second place at 27-under par, while No. 28 Arkansas State finished in third place at 16-under par. UT Arlington and UL Monroe tied for fourth place at 15-under par with the Warhawks earning the final spot in match play following a one-hole playoff with the Mavericks.
Georgia Southern’s Steven Fisk, who is ranked No. 18 in the country, defeated Arkansas State’s Luka Naglic in a one-hole playoff after the duo tied for first place at 11-under par. Coastal Carolina’s Zack Taylor and South Alabama’s Rasmus Karlsson tied for third place at 10-under par. UT Arlington’s Paul Gonzalez and Arkansas State’s Zan Luka Stirn tied for fifth place at 8-under par.
Georgia State’s season will come to an end. The Panthers lose four seniors, but just one, James Kyles, that played in the conference championship.