March 9, 2009

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – South Carolina senior Mark Silvers III put together one of only six rounds under par in Monday’s final round of the General Jim Hackler Invitational to finish tied for third, helping the Gamecock men’s golf team to a ninth-place finish at the TPC Myrtle Beach. It was the third top-10 for Silvers this season and the best of his career; he finished fourth at the Mason Rudolph Invitational in October and seventh at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate in November.

Silvers followed up a 74 and a 75 on Sunday with a 2-under 70 on Monday to climb from a tie for 18th to a tie for third place at 3-over (219) with Wake Forest’s Branden Gielow and Ohio State’s Bo Hoag. Silvers opened his round with a bogey at the 10th hole, but then rolled off four birdies over a nine-hole stretch to get to 3-under on the day and within striking distance of the leaders. A bogey at the par-3 seventh hole kept him from sole possession of third place, but he still earned his best result of the season.

Freshman Wesley Bryan posted a final-round 74 (+2) to finish in a tie for 16th place at 224 (+8), his second top-20 showing of the year. Bryan had a rough start with a double bogey at the 11th (his second hole), but birdied holes 14 and 18 to make the turn at even par. A bogey at Nos. 1 and 7 dropped him back to 2-over, where he would finish the day.

Junior George Bryan IV improved by four strokes from his second-round score, posting a 4-over 76 in Monday’s final round. Like his younger brother, George made the turn at even par, but found trouble on his back nine with four bogeys to give him a total score of 232 (+16) and a tie for 48th place.

South Carolina improved by two spots in the final team standings after entering the day tied for 11th. The Gamecocks posted a round of 300 (+12) on Monday to finish at 46-over for the tournament, two shots ahead of Ohio State and one stroke back of Augusta State. Wake Forest posted the week’s best team score with a 2-over 290 to earn the tournament title at 17-over for the week, 10 shots clear of runner-up NC State.

The Wolfpack’s Matt Hill fired two straight rounds under par to take the individual title at 213 (-3), three shots ahead of Coastal Carolina’s Zack Byrd.

The Gamecocks will return to tournament action March 20-22 at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.

CAROLINA RESULTST3. Mark Silvers III - 74-75-70=219 (+3)T16. Wesley Bryan - 77-73-74=224 (+8)T48. George Bryan IV - 76-80-76=232 (+16)67. Baker Elmore - 76-79-83=238 (+22)T74. Paul Woodbury - 80-87-80=247 (+31)
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS1. Wake Forest (+17)2. NC State (+27)3. Pepperdine (+29)T4. Coastal Carolina (+34)T4. East Tennessee State (+34)6. Lamar (+36)7. Kentucky (+38)8. Augusta State (+45)9. South Carolina (+46)10. Ohio State (+48)11. Duke (+51)12. UCLA (+58)13. Illinois (+59)14. North Carolina (+64)