April 7, 2009

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The ninth-ranked South Carolina men’s golf team equaled its second-round effort with a 15-over-par 303 in Tuesday’s final round to finish in 11th place at the U.S. Collegiate Championships at The Golf Club of Georgia. South Carolina was led by junior Patrick Rada on the final day, who fired a 2-under 70 to post the Gamecocks’ best round of the tournament.

Rada rebounded in a big way from an 83 in the second round to go 13 strokes lower on the final day of competition. Starting on Hole No. 10, Rada was bogey-free through his first 17 holes of the day, carding three birdies in the process. A bogey at the par-5 ninth was the only blemish on his scorecard, keeping him at 2-under for the day. Rada, who shot an even-par 72 in the first round, finished at 9-over for the tournament and tied for 32nd place.

Three Gamecocks had rough final rounds and finished tied for 37th place at 10-over. Senior Mark Silvers III, junior George Bryan IV and freshman Wesley Bryan all finished the tournament at 226 after firing final rounds well over par. The Bryan brothers were shot-for-shot with a pair of 79s while Silvers was one shot better at 78 to close out the tournament.

Freshman Sam Braver shot a final-round 76 to finish at 15-over for the week, tied for 62nd place. Braver was mostly brilliant in his final round, even carding an eagle on the first hole (his 10th) to get to 1-under on the day. However, a disastrous quadruple-bogey at his final hole dropped him to 4-over for the round.

Clemson took the team title, firing a final-round 284 (-4) to climb from a tie for 6th to the tournament lead on the final day, finishing the week at 12-over. Stanford was two strokes back of the Tigers at 14-over after a 299 (+11) on the final day. Tournament host Georgia Tech finished third with an even-par round of 288 on the final day, giving them a total of 17-over for the tournament.

Alabama’s Bud Cauley and UCLA’s Erik Flores tied for the tournament title at 4-under after both fired scores of 73 (-1) in the final round. Third place went to Stanford’s David Chung at 2-under.

The Gamecocks will regroup and look to get back on the winning track next weekend when they head to St. Simons Island, Ga., for the SEC Championships, which run April 17-19 at the Frederica Club.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST32. Patrick Rada - 72-83-70=225 (+9)T37. Mark Silvers III - 75-73-78=226 (+10)T37. Wesley Bryan - 71-76-79=226 (+10)T37. George Bryan IV - 73-74-79=226 (+10)T62. Sam Braver - 75-80-76=231 (+15)
TEAM STANDINGS1. Clemson (+12)2. Stanford (+14)3. Georgia Tech (+17)4. Georgia (+19)T5. Alabama (+22)T5. Texas A&M (+22)T7. UCLA (+23)T7. Washington (+23)9. Southern California (+24)10. Oklahoma State (+31)11. South Carolina (+33)12. East Tennessee State (+42)13. Florida (+45)14. Indiana (+46)15. Florida State (+51)