Gamecocks Finish 8th at NCAA Baton Rouge Regional
South Carolina Athletics
Junior Nathan Franks fires a final round 66 (-6) to lead the team with a T-12th finish at 1-under for the tournament
BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina’s 2023-24 men’s golf season came to a close on Wednesday at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. The Gamecocks shot 284 (-4) the final round en route to an eighth-place finish at 11-over par with a 54-hole total of 875.
The Gamecocks gave it a valiant effort, sitting at 8-over as a team going into the final three-hole stretch on the back nine but were unable to get the strong finish needed as host LSU hung on for the final spot at next week’s NCAA Championship. The Tigers shot 868 to finish at 4-over, two shots in front of Houston and five shots in front of No. 25 Duke.
Junior Nathan Franks, who returned from injury this week playing for the first time since winning the Schenkel Invitational back on March 17, paced the team this week with a T-12th finish. He rocketed up the leaderboard today with a final round 66 (-6) that featured eight birdies. Franks was bogey free and at 8-under after a birdie at the par-4 15th hole. He had a nice par save at the par-3 16th hole but caught two tough breaks the final two holes as he made bogeys on each.
Freshman Bo Carpenter also had a nice tournament with a T-15th finish at 1-over. He also fired a red number today with a final round 70 (-2) in his NCAA Regional debut. He made the turn at even with a trio of birdies and was bogey free on the back nine with birdies at holes 11 and 17. The top-20 for Carpenter this week was his second of the season as he heads into the offseason now on the heels of some postseason momentum.
Redshirt sophomore Frankie Harris, who has been the team’s top player this spring, shot 73 (+1) the final round to T-20th at 2-over. Harris finishes the season with a team-high seven top-20 finishes, including four top-fives, in 11 stroke play starts.
Sophomore Zach Adams shot 75 (+3) and was the final counting score. He T-45th this week at 9-over. Sixth-year Lansdon Robbins was reinserted into the lineup today in the five-man spot. He shot 78 (+6) in his final college round.
Top-ranked Auburn won the regional at 21-under, shooting a field-best 268 (-20) in the final round today. Texas Tech’s Baard Skogen was the regional champion at 8-under (208). He shot 66 (-6) in the final round today. Duke’s Ethan Evans heads to the NCAA Championship next week as the highest placing individual on a non-advancing team. He finished T-2nd at 6-under (210).
2024 Baton Rouge Regional Leaderboard
1. No. 1 Auburn – 843 (-21)
2. No. 12 Virginia – 851 (-13)
3. No. 14 Texas Tech – 856 (-8)
4. Ohio State – 864 (E)
5. LSU – 868 (+4)
–top-five advance to the 2024 NCAA Championship next week–
6. Houston – 870 (+6)
7. No. 25 Duke – 873 (+9)
8. South Carolina – 875 (+11)
9. No. 24 Oregon – 883 (+19)
10. Louisville – 885 (+21)
11. Lipscomb – 888 (+24)
12. Yale – 919 (+55)
13. Loyola Maryland – 929 (+65)
14. Arkansas Pine-Bluff – 976 (+112)
2024 Baton Rouge Regional Gamecock Leaderboard
T12. Nathan Franks – 215 (-1)
T15. Bo Carpenter – 217 (+1)
T20. Frankie Harris – 218 (+2)
T45. Zach Adams – 225 (+9)
DNP-SUB. Lansdon Robbins – 157 (+13)
DNP-SUB. Rafe Reynolds – 82 (+10)
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