Charleston Southern University Athletics
The Hootie at Bulls Bay
Bucs take fifth at The Hootie; Keur closes with 71, James ties for third
4/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
AWENDAW, S.C. – Charleston Southern turned in one of its strongest showings of the season by taking fifth at The Hootie on Tuesday afternoon at Bulls Bay. The Buccaneers put together a team 294 (+6) and junior Austin James tied for third to help CSU finish ahead of four ranked teams in the 15-team field.
The Bucs (+2) held off Missouri (+4) to finish in the top five. No. 16 South Carolina (-23) ran away from the field the final two days, winnings by 15 strokes over College of Charleston (-8). The Gamecocks were 8-under in the final round. No. 8 Auburn (-3) was third followed by No. 10 Wake Forest (E).
USC's Keenan Huskey carried his momentum from an opening-round 65 (-7) all the way to taking medalist honors. Huskey had a final round 69 (-3) to finish at 11-under and win by five strokes over CofC's William Rainey.
CSU finished ahead of No. 20 Duke (+6), Kansas (+7), and N.C. State (+8) among others. After a record-setting 15-under par in the opening round, CSU Head Coach Mike Wilson knew it would be tough to keep up the pace, but was pleased with his team's finish that goes a long way toward a potential at-large berth in next month's NCAA Championship.
"I was really proud of the team effort today," Wilson said at Bulls Bay following the round. "We didn't really get it going low, but everyone fought for all 18 holes. To shoot a school record in round one and get a top five in this event – against this field - should be a big boost for our postseason chances."
Junior Austin James continued his torrid pace. He picked up his third top-three finish with a 74 (+2) in the final round. His seven-round streak of consecutive rounds under par came to an end with two late bogeys, but on a blustery day where low scores were tough to come by, the nation's No. 21 ranked player turned in, maybe, his best finish of the season. He finished 3-under for the event and had three birdies on Tuesday.
Sophomore R.J. Keur played his final 13 holes 3-under to finish with a final round 71 (-1). He had three birdies on the day to climb back into the Top 20, ending tied for 19th.
Senior Taylor Zoller fired a 75 (+3) added two more birdies to his week in his final round to bring the total for the week to 11. He finished 36th.
Sophomore Jake Ezell pieced together a 74 (+2) to tie for 56th. He had a pair of birdies on the day.
Freshman Clayton Gregory's 76 (+4) included three birdies, but a late double bogey hurt his round. He tied for 51st.
CSU has a short week before one final tuneup ahead of the Big South Championships. The Bucs will play at the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C. The event is Apr. 11-12 at the Country Club of Spartanburg.
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