Opening up the spring portion of its 2016-2017 season,
Georgetown, the reigning Big East champion, finished sixth at the Florida
Atlantic University Slomin Autism Invite, which wrapped up Sunday at The Squire
Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The Hoyas, No. 191 in Golfstat’s
latest rankings, opened up with a solid 3-over-par 291 over the 6,447-yard,
par-72 Squire Course, but fell back with rounds of 301 and 300 to finish at
28-over 892.
No. 55 Central Florida claimed the team title, the Knights
posting a 1-under 287 in Sunday’s final round to finish with a 3-over 867
total. No. 83 Jacksonville State was the runnerup, firing a 4-under 284, the
best round by any team in the tournament, to finish seven shots behind Central
Florida at 10-over 874.
No. 133 Connecticut matched par in the final round with a
288 to take third at 19-over 883. No. 132 Southern Mississippi and No. 187
Northern Illinois both went low in the final round, each carding a 3-under 285,
to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Golden Eagles finished at 23-over 887 and the Huskies checked
in at 25-over 889. Georgetown was another three shots back in sixth at 892 and it
was one more shot back to No. 190 DePaul in seventh in the 13-team field at
893.
Central Florida had three players finish in the top 10 in
Manuel Elvira, a junior from Spain, Kyle Tate, a sophomore from Winter Garden,
Fla., and Juuso Kahlos, a junior from Finland.
Elvira carded a 2-under 70 in the final round to claim
runnerup honors, just a shot back of individual champion Daniel Pico, a junior
at Jacksonville State from Colombia, at 6-under 210. Tate fired a final round
of 3-under 69 to finish alone in sixth at 2-over 218. Kahlos had a 1-over 73 in
the final round to finish in a tie for eighth at 4-over 220.
Also for the Eagles, Bobby Bai, a freshman from China,
finished in a tie for 13th at 5-over 221 after a final-round 76 and
Ryan Stovash, a senior from Orlando, Fla., finished in a tie for 30th
at 11-over 227 after a final-round 75.
Jacksonville State’s Pico fired a final-round 68 to capture
the individual title at 7-under 209. He opened with a 3-under 69 Friday and
posted a steady even-par 72 in Saturday’s middle round.
Murray State’s Austin Knight, a freshman from Hopkinsville,
Ky., finished third, four shots behind Central Florida’s Elvira at 2-under 214
after a final-round 71.
Florida Gulf Coast’s Andrew Potter, a sophomore from Naples,
Fla., and Southern Mississippi’s Derick Kelting, a sophomore from Amarillo,
Texas, finished in a tie for fourth at 1-over 217. Potter was in contention for
the individual title after two rounds, but fell back with a 76 in the final
round while Kelting moved up the leaderboard with a 4-under 68 Sunday.
Georgetown was led by Eduardo Blechtein, a freshman from
Delray Beach, Fla. who finished seventh, a shot behind Central Florida’s Tate
at 3-over 219. Blechtein followed up a 1-under 71 in the opening round with
rounds of 73 and 75.
The Georgetown players were probably just happy to leave
Washington D.C. and a winter that was overstaying its welcome behind and head
for Florida to play some golf. I’m going to guess that the Florida teams in the
field have had a little more quality practice time than the cold-weather
colleges in the field.
Cole Berman, the Georgetown junior who starred
scholastically at The Haverford School and captured the 2015 BMW Philadelphia
Amateur title, struggled in the final round with a 78, but finished tied for 24th
at 225. He was joined at that figure by Hardin Council, a freshman from High
Point, N.C. who had the Hoyas’ best round of the day Sunday, an even-par 72.
Jack Musgrave, a junior from Chesterton, Ind., finished in a
tie for 30th at 227 after a final-round 78 and Sam Madsen, a junior
from Madison, Wis., finished in a tie for 40th at 229 after a
final-round 75.
Berman, Musgrave and Madsen are holdovers from a Georgetown
team that won the Big East title and the automatic bid to the NCAA regionals
that came with it a year ago. Repeating that feat is a goal that seems within
reach.
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