March 28, 2006

AWENDAW, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s golf team turned its best performance of the spring season by finishing tied for second among a 15-team field in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, played at Bulls Bay Golf Club (Par 71 — 7,229 yards) in Awendaw, S.C. Both senior Eirik Johansen (Stavanger, Norway) and freshman Florian Fritsch (Wiesloch, Germany) placed in a tie for ninth to lead the Gamecocks.

South Carolina (279-283-296=858) tied with UCF (289-282-287=858). On the strength of stellar first and second rounds, Wake Forest (275-277-290=842) claimed the team title, finishing 16 strokes ahead of the field. Fritsch led all USC golfers with a final round 70 (-1) on Tuesday, capping his third top-10 finish of the season. Johansen, who carded a final round 78, notched his fifth top-10 finish of the season and the 19th of his South Carolina career.

Sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C.) shot 75 in the final round and placed in at tie for 22nd. Redshirt freshman Patrick Cunning (Aiken, S.C.) fired 76 and wound up in a tie for 26th. Freshman Allen Koon (Bamberg, S.C.) rounded out the Carolina lineup in a tie for 33rd following a final round 75.

The Gamecocks’ second-place effort was the best in four events this spring. Carolina won the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate on Oct. 16 in Jonesborough, Tenn.

South Carolina will return to the links April 8 and 9 at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

South Carolina IndividualsT9  Eirik Johansen    67-70-78=215 (+2)T9  Florian Fritsch  70-75-70=215 (+2)T22     Mark Anderson  71-72-75=218 (+5)T26 Patrick Cunning  76-67-76=219 (+6)T33     Allen Koon    71-74-75=220 (+7)
Final Team Standings1   Wake Forest 275-277-290 = 842 (-10)T2   South Carolina  279-283-296 = 858 (+6)T2  UCF     289-282-287 = 858 (+6)4   Augusta State   296-269-295 = 860 (+8)5   North Carolina  288-286-292 = 866 (+14)6   LSU     300-287-287 = 874 (+22)7   NC State    298-279-298 = 875 (+23)8   Vanderbilt  297-282-298 = 877 (+25)T9  Alabama     299-286-294 = 879 (+27)T9  Clemson     293-286-300 = 879 (+27)11  Florida State   293-296-295 = 881 (+29)12  Kentucky    292-295-296 = 883 (+31)13  Coll. of Charleston 293-291-300 = 884 (+32)14  Virginia    297-281-307 = 885 (+33)15  Auburn      296-295-295 = 886 (+34)