Men's Golf . April 22, 2017

Gamecock Men Advance To Match Play At SEC Championship

April 22, 2017

SEC Championship
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GAMECOCK SCORECARDS

Keenan Huskey
Round 1: 69
Round 2: 70
Round 3: 68
To Par: -3
Place: T-9

Scott Stevens
Round 1: 72
Round 2: 70
Round 3: 71
To Par: +3
Place: T-23

Jamie Wilson
Round 1: 72
Round 2: 73
Round 3: 66
To Par: +1
Place: T-16

Ryan Stachler
Round 1: 70
Round 2: 77
Round 3: 81
To Par: +18
Place: T-64

Will Miles
Round 1: 73
Round 2: 73
Round 3: 75
To Par: +11
Place: T-53

Pos.	Team	R1	R2	R3	Total
1.	Vanderbilt	276	281	272	829 (-11)
2.	Texas A&M	273	282	280	835 (-5)
3.	LSU	278	284	275	837 (-3)
4.	Florida	269	289	280	838 (-2)
5.	South Carolina	279	286	280	849 (+9)
6.	Alabama	271	288	288	847 (+11)
T-7.	Ole Miss	282	290	280	852 (+12)
T-7.	Missouri	284	279	289	852 (+12)
T-9.	Georgia	291	289	276	856 (+16)
T-9.	Auburn	278	287	291	856 (+16)
11.	Kentucky	292	289	276	857 (+17)
12.	Arkansas	299	292	268	859 (+19)
13.	Tennessee	301	294	279	874 (+34)
14.	Mississippi State	298	298	281	877 (+37)

Dates: April 8-9

Location: St. Simons Island, Ga.

Course: Sea Island Golf Club — Seaside Course

Par: 70

Yards: 6,898 yards

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — South Carolina locked up a spot in the first ever match play portion of the 2017 SEC Men’s Golf Championship on Saturday after shooting a final round 280 (E). The Gamecocks (5 seed) will face No. 6 Florida (4 seed) in the quarterfinals of match play Sunday morning. Freshman Jamie Wilson was spectacular in the third round, shooting a new 18-hole career low 66 (-4) to finish T-16th in his conference tournament debut.

The Mount Pleasant, S.C., native, jolted up the leaderboard with his low score, climbing 19 spots on the final day. He shot 1-over for the tournament. Wilson led the team with six birdies on Saturday. He shot a bogey free 32 (-3) on the front nine and a 1-under 34 on the back.

Keenan Huskey finished T-9th in his second SEC Championship appearance after shooting 3-under for the tournament. The Greenville, S.C., native shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday. After posting three bogeys on the front nine. Huskey was bogey free down the backstretch with two birdies. He leads the team this season with 20 rounds of par or better. Huskey surpassed a single-season high set last season with his sixth top-10 finish of the year today.

Sophomore Scott Stevens carded a 1-over 71 to finish T-23rd in his second career appearance at the conference meet. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native, was 1-over heading into the final nine holes and shot 35 (E) on the back nine. He made a huge eight foot birdie putt on the Par 3 17th.

Sophomore Will Miles made the turn at 6-over today but bounced back in a big way on the back nine, grinding out a 1-under 34 with three birdies. The Hilton Head Island, S.C., native, T-53rd at 11-over par. Fellow sophomore Ryan Stachler shot an 81 (+11) in the third round to finish T-64th. Both players were making their SEC Championship debuts.

No. 3 Vanderbilt shot a final round 272 (-8) to run away with first place in the stroke play portion of the event and earn the top seed in match play. No. 15 Texas A&M was the runner-up at 5-under. No. 7 LSU shot 3-under and fended off the sixth-ranked Gators for third. 18th-ranked Alejandro Tosti of Florida took home medalist honors after defeating 12th ranked Patrick Martin of Vanderbilt in a sudden-death playoff on the second hole.

Round Changer Jamie Wilson

Wilson’s career-best 66 came when his team needed him most on Sunday. The freshman was rock solid and did not make a bogey on Saturday until the final hole, which was playing as one of the toughest holes on the golf course the entire tournament. There was just one birdie on the hole in the third round and 12 the entire tournament.

Quoting Coach Bill McDonald

“These guys have experienced not finishing some rounds well this year, and I think they’ve learned from it. I think playing a really tough schedule with some bumps and bruises along the way helped. I think you saw a tougher group of guys today. I’m so excited about this match play portion of the event. Now we’re all back to square one. Really looking forward to playing Florida tomorrow.”

Notable

Huskey tied for the field lead in Par 5 scoring average at 4.17 (-5) with Vanderbilt’s Patrick Martin. He T-4th in the field with 13 birdies, three behind the leader.
Stevens and Huskey T-2nd in the field in Par 3 scoring average at 2.92 (-1).
As a team the Gamecocks posted 42 birdies, second best in the field in stroke play. 19 of those came in the third round on Saturday.
Kerry Sweeney of Ole Miss tallied a hole-in-one on Saturday on the Par 3 third hole.

Up Next for the Gamecocks

Carolina squares off with No. 6 Florida in the fourth vs. fifth seed battle in match play on Sunday. Sophomore Will Miles will lead things off at 7:30 a.m. vs. Alejandro Tosti on hole 10. The winners from the match play quarterfinals will square off in the semifinals in the afternoon.