HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Charleston Southern climbed one spot and finished tied for second with No. 46 Georgia Southern at the rain-shortened 2015 Wexford Invitational on Tuesday. Teams finished their incomplete second rounds in wet and near-freezing temperatures in the morning and the scheduled final round was canceled due to travel concerns and playing conditions to wrap up the Buccaneers first event of the spring.
The Bucs finished at 593 (+17) in the 36-hole event. Their 291 in the opening round was the second-lowest total of the event, just behind tournament champion Wofford. The Terriers won by seven strokes at 586 (+10). The Bucs finished 12 strokes better than any of the other three Big South teams in the field (Radford, Presbyterian, and Campbell).
CSU head coach Mike Wilson was pleased with the result his team turned in, despite ugly conditions, to open the 2015 portion of its schedule.
"Despite a short day, today was very positive," Wilson said. "I didn't know what to expect to start today. It was good to beat Georgia Southern, a nationally-ranked team, and get the spring off to a good start. The new rankings come out tomorrow. We were 96th and could see some improvement. There is still a long way to go with four tournaments left in four very strong fields."
CSU's second-place finish in the 19-team field is its best this year and it was sparked by a freshman who carried their fall momentum straight into the new season.
Freshman R.J. finished tied for ninth, his first career top 10. He was 3-over in his final round with a 75, a good score considering the conditions.
Junior Nico Baena was 1-over on his five holes on Tuesday morning to close the second round with a 1-over 73. He finished tied for 16th at 149 (+5).
Senior Jarrett Swan and sophomore Austin James tied for 22nd. Swan closed with a 76 (+4) and James fired a 78 (+6) to end their event.
Only two players finished the tournament under par. Western Carolina's J.T. Poston (-2) topped Virginia Commonwealth's Adam Ball for medalist honors by one stroke.
The Bucs have a week off before competing at the General Hackler on March 9-10 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The 54-hole event is played at the TPC Myrtle Beach.
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