March 6, 2012

Photo Gallery

AIKEN, S.C. — The South Carolina men’s golf team shot a final-round 293 (+13) at the Palmetto Golf Club on Tuesday afternoon to wrap up the Palmetto Intercollegiate in third place.

The Gamecocks finished the tournament with a three-round score of 863 (+23) to claim their fourth-straight top-five finish and third top-three showing in their last four events. South Carolina accomplished the feat with its youngest lineup of the season, which included three freshmen, one junior and one senior. The Gamecocks got off to a slow start as they were 9-over on the day through 10 holes but they bounced back with a 4-over par effort down the stretch to secure third place.

“It was a rough start,” South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald said. “We had a couple of guys make a bunch of bogeys at the beginning of the round. The pins were set in some really tough places. I was really proud of them because they got their act together in the middle of the round and came back and finished well. A third-place finish with three freshmen in the lineup for us against a really good field, I’m not disappointed at all. I’m actually very excited about what I see with these young men and how hard they are working and their resiliency.”

One of the young Gamecocks played extremely well for the second-straight week to earn the first top-five finish of his career. Freshman Caleb Sturgeon posted a final-round 72 (+2) to wrap up the event in fourth place with a three-round score of 213 (+3). Senior Wesley Bryan also finished inside the top 10 as he shot a 3-over 73 to tie for seventh with a score of 215 (+5), giving him 11 top-10 showings for his career.

Freshman Will Murphy finished just outside the top 10 as he tied for 11th with a score of 216 (+6) after carding a 2-over 72 on Tuesday. Junior Dykes Harbin and freshman Sean Kelly each shot a 76 (+6) on the day to tie for 35th and 40th, respectively.

Clemson carded a 283 (+3) to win the tournament by a stroke over Virginia with a three-round total of 854 (+14). Virginia’s Ben Kohles recorded a 1-under 69 to win medalist honors with a score of 208 (-2).

The Gamecocks return to action on March 16-18 in the Chris Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Golf Club in Statesboro, Ga.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
4. Caleb Sturgeon 70-71-72=213
T7. Wesley Bryan 70-72-73=215
T11. Will Murphy 76-68-72=216
T35. Dykes Harbin 72-74-76=222
T40. Sean Kelly 74-73-76=223

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Clemson 286-285-283=854 (+14)
2. Virginia 292-278-285=855 (+15)
3. South Carolina 286-284-293=863 (+23)
4. Liberty 291-290-286=867 (+27)
5. East Carolina 290-285-293=868 (+28)
6. Furman 286-301-286=873 (+33)
7. Augusta State 299-282-293=874 (+34)
8. Coll. of Charleston 297-288-290=875 (+35)
9. Chattanooga 294-289-294=877 (+37)
10. Vanderbilt 298-293-297=888 (+48)
11. Akron 299-293-299=891 (+51)
T12. Presbyterian 305-293-298=896 (+56)
T12. USC-Aiken 295-295-306=896 (+56)
14. Maryland 302-297-306=905 (+65)
15. Francis Marion 305-295-306=906 (+66)
16. Georgia Southern 313-294-300=907 (+67)
17. Wofford 322-295-300=917 (+77)
18. Elon 308-300-313=921 (+81)