NINETY-SIX, S.C. – Austin James' sterling junior season was missing one thing. A win. Tuesday he put the finishing touch on an impressive season, taking medalist honors at the 2016 Big South Men's Golf Championship presented by Musco Lighting.
The Charleston Southern junior ran away from the field with a 3-under 69 in Tuesday's final round to win by five strokes. His 11-under par was one stroke shy of the Big South Championship record, held by Dustin Johnson. James had four birdies on the front nine and was a consistent 1-under on the back with a birdie and eight pars.
James trailed by one after the opening round and led by three heading into Tuesday. CSU Head Coach Mike Wilson was glad to see James get the win he deserves after eight Top 10 finishes this season.
"Austin was just solid from the first tee on," Wilson said. "To have three rounds in the 60's is pretty impressive here. He hadn't had a win. He had been really close. To come in today with a three-shot lead and never really get threatened is quite an accomplishment."
James won James had a stretch of four birdies in five holes on the front nine to all but put the tournament out of reach, becoming the second Buc in as many years to earn medalist honors. Then-freshman R.J. Keur won the tournament last season.
Charleston Southern threatened to make it back-to-back team championships early in the day, but couldn't sustain it. The Bucs were 4-under at the turn and started to close the gap on Liberty early on the back nine, but a pair of double bogeys on No. 12 set CSU back.
The Buccaneers (+4) finished third overall, behind champion Liberty and Campbell (+1). The Flames finished at 11-under par to win by 12 strokes. Wilson was disappointed with the team finish, but thought the Bucs let one get away just after the turn.
"We cut the lead to three or four with eight holes to go, and I thought we were really going to make a run. Then, on No. 11 we had two doubles and couldn't get the momentum back after that. We played a lot of golf, I mean this tournament we played really solid. Its just unfortunate, today, we didn't quite get it done, but that is how golf is sometimes."
The Bucs now await their NCAA fate. CSU expects to be into the tournament field for a second straight season. The selection show is May 5. CSU entered the week ranked No. 55 nationally and will likely remain in the Top 60, which has been a good spot historically to receive a bid.
"I think our resume should speak for itself," Wilson said of the NCAA chances. Our record against the Top 50 is really impressive. I think we have 4-5 wins against Top 25, I think the resume is there. I'm pretty hopeful we'll be going somewhere as a team."
Keur gave the Bucs a second Top 10 finish, taking sixth at 1-under. He overcame three bogeys and a double bogey in a final round 73 (+1) with birdies on two of the last three holes.
Sophomore Jake Ezell slipped out of the Top 20 with a 76 (+4), but had three birdies in his round. He tied for 23rd and was also named to the Big South All-Academic team at the post-round awards ceremony.
Senior Taylor Zoller was 27th with a 77 (+5) on Tuesday. He was 2-under at the turn, but a double at 12 ended his hot streak.
Freshman Clayton Gregory was 47th and had his best round of the tournament with a 76 (+4) on Tuesday.
NCAA Regionals are May 15-18 at various sites. The selection show is May 5 at 11 a.m. on the Golf Channel.
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