Getting matching 6-under-par 66s from individual champion
Spencer Ralston, a junior from Gainesville, Ga., and Trevor Phillips, a junior
from Inman, S.C., Georgia, No. 15 in the latest Golfstat rankings, blew by Southeastern Conference rival Alabama
and the rest of the field Sunday to capture the team title in the Linger Longer
Invitational at The Landing Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.
It was the second win of the spring – the Bulldogs shared
the team crown with in-state rival Georgia Tech in the Puerto Rico Classic last
month – for Georgia, which closed with an 11-under 277 over The Landing Course,
which plays to 6,991 yards and a par of 72. That gave Georgia a 19-under 845
total and a six-shot margin of victory over No. 21 Liberty, which capped a
solid week with a 5-under 283 that gave the Flames a 13-under 851 total.
No. 25 Louisville, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference,
also had a strong week and closed with an 8-over 296 to finish third at
10-under 854. Liberty and Louisville finished third and fourth, respectively,
in the General Hackler Championship, which concluded Tuesday in Myrtle Beach,
S.C.
No. 24 Alabama, the runnerup in both the SEC Championship
and the NCAA Championship a year ago, had surged to the top of the leaderboard
with a 12-under 276 in Saturday’s second round, but the Crimson Tide fell back
with a 7-over 295 in the final round and finished fourth at 5-under 859.
North Carolina Greensboro’s No.-88 ranking should get a
nudge upwards after it completed a strong showing at Reynolds Lake Oconee with
a final round of 1-over 289 that left the Spartans alone in fifth place at
3-under 861.
No. 61 Virginia should also move up in the rankings after
the Cavaliers, one of Louisville’s ACC rivals, carded their second straight
6-under 282 to finish sixth at 2-under 862. No. 64 Kennesaw State also closed
strong with a 5-under 283 to finish seventh at 2-over 866.
No. 53 Ohio State carded a final round of 4-over 292 to just
sneak past Big Ten rival Penn State, ranked 68th, for eighth place
at 3-over 867. The Nittany Lions closed with a 6-over 294 to finish a shot
behind the Buckeyes in ninth place in the 15-team field at 4-over 868.
Ralston’s 66 gave him the individual title at 11-under 205.
He had trailed the three co-leaders after two rounds by two shots, but his
blazing finish gave him a three-shot margin of victory.
Trevor Phillips matched Ralston for the low round of the day
to surge into a tie for second with Liberty’s Alexandre Fuchs, a sophomore from
France, at 8-under 208. Fuchs, one of the three co-leaders after two rounds at
7-under 137, finished up with a 1-under 71.
Backing up the top two for Georgia was freshman Trent
Phillips, Trevor’s younger brother and the No. 38 player in the World Amateur
Golf Ranking (WAGR) who carded a final round of 1-under 71 to join the group
tied for 15th at 1-under 215.
Will Kahlstorf, a freshman from Watkinsville, Ga., struggled
in the final round with a 78 to finish among the group tied for 40th
at 5-over 221. Kahlstorf contributed counting rounds of 71 and 72 in the first
two rounds.
Rounding out the Georgia lineup was Davis Thompson, a
sophomore from Auburn, Ala. who closed with a 1-over 73 to land in the group
tied for 44th at 6-over 222.
Penn State senior JD Hughes, a Carlisle product and the
winner of the 2017 Pennsylvania Amateur at White Manor Country Club, headed a
group of four players tied for fourth in the individual standings at 7-under
209.
Hughes surged into a share of the individual lead with a
sizzling 7-under 65 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in Sunday’s
final round with a 72.
Alabama’s Josh Sedeno, a junior from Roseville, Calif., had
joined Hughes and Liberty’s Fuchs at the top of the leaderboard after
Saturday’s second round. He also matched par in the final round with a 72 to
end up in the foursome tied for fourth at 7-under.
Rounding out that quartet at 209 were a couple of Louisville
players, Jiri Zuska, a freshman from the Czech Republic, and Matthias Schmid, a
sophomore from Germany.
Zuska, who had grabbed the opening-round lead with a 7-under
65, closed with a 1-under 71. Schmid finished strong, posting a 3-under 69.
Four more players – Liberty’s Erick Chang, a junior from
Malaysia, Ohio State senior Daniel Wetterich, one of the Buckeyes’ Cincinnati
Kids, South Alabama’s Rasmus Karlsson, a junior from Finland, and Virginia’s
David Morgan, a freshman from Naples, Fla. – finished tied for eighth at 4-under
212.
Karlsson had the best final round of the four with a 2-under
70, Morgan bettered par with a 1-under 71 and Chang and Wetterich matched par
in the final round, each posting a 72.
It was a little bit of a disappointing weekend for Penn
State, although Hughes continued to play at a high level. It was also
encouraging to see Charles Huntzinger get back on track as the senior from
Duluth Ga. matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish in the group tied
for 26th at 1-over 217.
Alec Bard, a junior from New Hartford, N.Y., and the Ryans,
Dornes, a senior and a former Manheim Township standout, and Davis, a junior
from Berkeley Heights, N.J., struggled a little at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Bard opened with a 2-under 70, but his final-round 78 left
him in the group tied for 50th at 6-over 223. Dornes, the 2014 PIAA
Class AAA runnerup, also landed in the group tied at 223 after a final round of
4-over 76. Davis righted the ship a little in the final round with a 2-over 74
after carding a pair of 77s in the first two rounds. His 12-over 228 total left
him in the group tied for 67th.
Head coach Greg Nye’s Nittany Lions will get a month to get
ready for a final push, beginning with the 43rd Rutherford
Intercollegiate that they will host at the Blue Course beginning April 13.
Two weeks later they’ll be in Philadelphia when the Big Ten
Championship comes to Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, an A.W.
Tillinghast gem. They need to get a little better by then, but they have all
proved that they can be better.
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