Men's Golf . March 26, 2019

No. 20 Gamecocks Come from Behind for Win at Bulls Bay

Carolina shot 277 (-11) in R3 for its fourth title in the last five seasons at the event

AWENDAW, S.C. — No. 20 South Carolina came from behind on Tuesday to claim its fourth title in the last five seasons at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. All five players in the lineup posted red numbers today as the Gamecocks shot a field-best 277 (-11) in the final round to run away with a seven-shot victory.

“They came out on fire to start the round today,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “I was a little concerned about them to be honest with you. It’s been an awful lot of golf for us over the last couple of weeks. The guys showed up this morning and really played a great front nine. I couldn’t say enough about Jamie Wilson, finishing third in his hometown – just played really rock solid golf for us. It’s been an amazing couple of weeks. These guys have played some incredible golf, and it’s been fun to watch as their coach.”

Carolina was led by Wilson, who fired his third-straight 69 (-3) to take third place with a 54-hole total of 207 (-9). It marks a career-best finish for the junior and a new 54-hole low for the local product from just down the road in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Wilson led the team with 13 birdies (T-4^th in the field) this week. It marks his second career top-five finish. Wilson T-5^th at in the team’s win at the 2017 Hootie with a previous career, 54-hole low of 209 (-7).

Seniors Ryan Stachler and Will Miles also shot 69 (-3) today to help pace the Gamecocks. Stachler T-8^th for his third-straight, top-10 finish dating back to the team’s record-setting win at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate two weeks ago. Junior Caleb Proveaux fired a 2-under 70 to finish T-13^th at 3-under (213). Today marks the fourth career top-20 for Lexington, S.C., native.

Miles, who holed out for eagle from 200 yards away on hole 16, climbed up the leaderboard 14 spots to finish T-16th at 2-under (216) thanks to his best round of the tournament. He’s finished in the top-20 in all four spring events this season. Fellow senior Scott Stevens also finished T-16^th with a 54-hole total of 214 (-2). The Chattanooga, Tenn., native posted a 1-under 71 today for his 28^th career top-20 finish. Stevens has started every tournament for the Gamecocks the past four seasons.

Carolina entered today three shots behind College of Charleston in third place with a 36-hole total of 565 (-11). The Gamecocks were lights out the first nine holes, making up 10 shots on the field to retake the lead with a seven shot cushion heading into the back nine. Carolina’s five players had just one bogey the first nine holes with the counting scores shooting 12-under.

NOTABLE
> Today marked McDonald’s 23^rd victory as head coach at South Carolina, adding to his program record for tournament wins. McDonald’s first victory came at the 2007 NCAA West Regional when he was serving as interim head coach that spring.
> The Gamecocks have been on a tear the last three weeks, shooting 64-under as a team with two wins now and a third-place finish in a stacked field that featured six top-10 teams from Golfstat at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational (March 17-19).
> Carolina led the field this week in par-3 scoring average (3.00, E) and par-5 scoring average (4.73, -20). The Gamecocks tied for third in the field with 51 red numbers the past three days.
> South Carolina’s win in the Lowcountry was its fourth in the last five seasons at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate (won three-straight titles from 2015-17).

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks have a few weeks off before wrapping up the regular season at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational (formerly the 3M Augusta Invitational) on April 6-7 just before the start of Masters week down I-20.

FINAL TEAM SCOREBOARD – 2019 HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE
1. South Carolina – 842 (-22)
2. Kansas – 849 (-15)
3. College of Charleston – 854 (-10)
4. Missouri – 857 (-7)
5. Kent State – 859 (-5)
6. Iowa State – 861 (-3)
7. N.C. State – 862 (-2)
8. Kentucky – 863 (-1)
9. West Virginia – 865 (+1)
10. Duke – 867 (+3)
T-11. Purdue – 869 (+5)
T-11. Virginia – 869 (+5)
13. Wisconsin – 871 (+7)
14. Middle Tennessee State – 880 (+16)
15. Ole Miss – 882 (+18)

FINAL GAMECOCK LEADERBOARD – 2019 HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE
3. Jamie Wilson – 207 (-9)
T-8. Ryan Stachler – 212 (-4)
T-13. Caleb Proveaux – 213 (-3)
T-16. Will Miles – 214 (-2)
T-16. Scott Stevens 214 (-2)

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