Bucs Finish Tenth at Jacksonville Invite

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – A 13-stroke improvement in the final round of play was enough to propel the Charleston Southern men’s golf team into 10th-place at the Sea Best Seafood Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville University at The PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., on Tuesday.

“The guys played much better today,” said head coach Mike Wilson.  “We have confidence in ourselves and know we can play with anybody.  The thing we have to work on is our consistency.”

Previously in 12th place after 36 holes, the Bucs combined to shoot a 299 on the final 18 holes.  Their score was a 13-stroke improvement from their second round score and was 16 strokes better than their first 18 holes.  They finished with a score of 315-312-299-926 for 62 over par. 

Florida took first place overall, shooting a team score of 884 for 20 over par.  Big South rival Liberty was second with a final score of 899 for 35 over.    The Gators’ TJ Vogel took first overall with a final score of 216 to finish even. 

Both Ross Thomson and Jacobo Pastor jumped nine spots to tie for 17th place overall, shooting final round scores of 73.  Both players shot 78-75-73-226 to finish 10 over par.    Pastor birdied the second and ninth holes to end the day one over par, while Thomson recorded birdies on the seventh and 16th holes.  He also finished the round one over. 

David Denlinger also had a solid day, shooting a 74 to end the tournament at 78-81-74 with a total score of 233.   He birdied the third round twice, finishing two over on the day and 17 over in the tournament.  He finished in 35th place. 

Will Pieper took 54th place overall, shooting 81-81-79-241.  He finished 25 over par in the tournament and was seven over on the day.  Freshman Choo Teck Ng finished a few spots behind and in 62nd place.  Ng improved six strokes in the final round, shooting 85-85-79-249.  He was 14 over par. 

The Bucs will return home and take a bit of a break before embarking on their next tournament.   They will next compete at the 2012 Charleston Shootout, hosted by cross-town rival the College of Charleston at The Links at Stono Ferry in nearby Hollywood, S.C.