South Carolina Men Finish Fourth at Blessings Collegiate Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The South Carolina men moved up one spot on the leaderboard to finish fourth at the inaugural Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Wednesday. The Gamecocks shot 292 (+4) in the final round, posting a 54-hole total of 878 (+14) in the team’s all-SEC, season-opener.
 
Super senior Caleb Proveaux paced Carolina with a T-6^th finish at 2-under for the tournament. The Lexington, S.C., native, carded a 74 (+2) in round three after shooting 70 (-2) on days one and two. It marks the seventh top-10 of his career in Garnet and Black.
 
“We played well this week and it’s a good start to our season,” head coach Bill McDonald said. “I’m disappointed that we let a lot of opportunities to contend for the championship get away from us, but we have some great things to work on from the experience. Really proud of Caleb Proveaux and how well he played. Caleb really struggled here in the 2019 NCAA Championship and it was nice to see him get some redemption.”
 
Junior Ryan Hall T-13^th at 2-over par overall after carding a 75 (+3) today. The Knoxville, Tenn., native, had five birdies in the final round. He led the team with 14 red numbers on the week, which T-6^th most in the field.
 
Senior Jack Parrott led Carolina in round three with a 2-under round of 70. He climbed 19 spots on the leaderboard to finish T-26^th at 6-over. The Columbia, S.C., native, had a team-high seven birdies today. He had four birdies in five holes on the back nine to get to 4-under with three holes to play. Parrott made par at 16 and 17 but carded a double on 18.
 
Sophomore Jack Wall was the final counting score in round three after shooting 73 (+1) today. The Brielle, N.J., native, was 1-under after a birdie at the par-5 15^th, but he made bogey on two of his final three holes. Wall T-37^th at 10-over. Super senior Jamie Wilson shot 76 (+4) in round three. He finished 54^th at 14-over.
 
As a team this week, Carolina led the field in par-5 scoring average (4.62, -23) and finished second with 57 birdies, trailing only host Arkansas (59).
 
The Gamecock women also played in the BCI and finished third, posting a 54-hole team score of 885 (+21). South Carolina finished second on the combined team leaderboard at 35-over. Host Arkansas took home the combined team title at 12-over. Proveaux and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard T-2^nd on the combined best ball leaderboard at 21-under after posting scores of 65 (-7), 63 (-9) and 67 (-5) over the course of the past three days.
 
Carolina will be back in action Oct. 25-27 at the Legends Collegiate Invitational. The tournament will be played at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. It’ll be the second of three all-SEC fall events for the Gamecocks.
 
The first Golfstat Team Rankings of the season will be released a week prior on Oct. 18. Carolina is positioned well to debut in the top-25 after a strong showing this week at the Blessings.
 
2020 Blessings Collegiate Invitational Men’s Leaderboard
1. Alabama – 868 (+4)
2. Tennessee – 873 (+9)
3. Arkansas – 876 (+12)
4. South Carolina – 878 (+14)
T5. Texas A&M – 882 (+18)
T5. Vanderbilt – 882 (+18)
7. LSU – 883 (+19)
8. Kentucky – 885 (+21)
9. Mississippi State – 890 (+26)
10. Auburn – 892 (+28)
11. Georgia – 893 (+29)
12. Florida – 894 (+30)
13. Missouri – 904 (+40)
14. Ole Miss – 916 (+52)
 
Gamecock Men’s Leaderboard
T6. Caleb Proveaux – 214 (-2)
T13. Ryan Hall – 218 (+2) 
T26. Jack Parrott – 222 (+6)
T37. Jack Wall – 226 (+10)
54. Jamie Wilson – 230 (+14)
 
###