March 18, 2007

STATESBORO, GA. —The South Carolina men’s golf team turned in its best performance of the season, finishing fourth among an 18-team Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational field on Sunday at Forest Heights Country Club (Par 72, 6,692 yards) in Statesboro, Ga. Sophomore Baker Elmore (Cheraw, S.C.) placed in a tie for fourth individually, the best performance of his career, to lead the Gamecocks.

Carolina entered Sunday’s final round in second place and shot a team total of 296 in Sunday’s final round, putting them at 10-over par for the tournament (295-283-296=874). The Gamecocks beat eight teams ranked in Golfstat’s top 50, including No. 7 Florida, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 19 Minnesota, and finished in the top five for seventh time at the Schenkel.

Southeastern Conference teams dominated the field. Consensus top-five team Georgia (287-277-290=854) claimed the team title, No. 2 Alabama (292-288-280=860) placed second and No. 25 Auburn (289-293-286-868) finished third.

Elmore capped the weekend with a 74 on the final 18 holes. After playing 16 holes at one-under, Elmore suffered a triple bogey on 17 and recovered to make par on 18. Georgia’s Chris Kirk captured individual medalist honors after carding a six-under par 210. Teammate Brendon Todd was two strokes behind Kirk to finish in second place (212) and Alabama’s Michael Thompson (213) place third.

Gamecock sophomore Allen Koon (Bamberg, S.C.) also posted his best career finish by tying for 19th. Koon shot a final-round 76 and wrapped up the tournament three-over par with a total score of 73-70-76=219.

Freshman George Bryan IV (Chapin, S.C.) was two strokes back of Koon and shared 27th place. Bryan fired a 74 on the final 18 holes to finish at 76-71-74=221 (+5). Junior Warren Thomas (Columbia, S.C.) logged his third straight round of 74 and tied for 31st at six-over par while junior Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C.) also shot 74 on Sunday and placed in a tie for 41st.

The Gamecocks return to action March 25-27 when they participate in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, played at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.

South Carolina Individuals (Final)
T4, Baker Elmore, 72-69-74=215 (-1)
T19, Allen Koon, 73-70-76=219 (+3)
T27, George Bryan IV, 76-71-74=221 (+5)
T31, Warren Thomas, 74-74-74=222 (+6)
T41, Mark Anderson, 78-73-74=225 (+9)

Team Leader Board (Final)
1 Georgia 287-277-290=854 (-10)
2 Alabama 292-288-280=860 (-6)
3 Auburn 289-293-286=868 (+4)
4 South Carolina 295-283-296=874 (+10)
5 Florida 290-297-294=881 (+17)
6 Texas A&M 298-293-295=886 (+22)
7 Ga. Southern 302-297-288=887 (+23)
8 Augusta State 298-287-303=888 (+24)
9 New Mexico 299-293-297=889 (+25)
10 Tennessee 297-302-291=890 (+26)
11 Arizona 306-284-301=891 (+27)
12 North Carolina 302-293-301=896 (+32)
13 LSU 300-294-303=897 (+33)
14 Michigan St. 301-293-304=898 (+34)
15 Ohio State 298-302-303=903 (+39)
16 Kentucky 304-298-305=907 (+43)
17 Minnesota 299-297-314=910 (+46)
18 NC State 311-297-303=911 (+47)