Maybe North Florida isn’t the first college you think of
when you start ticking off the top golf schools.
But if the Ospreys aren’t in the top echelon of Division I,
they aren’t far away. They stormed into the NCAA Norman Regional last spring
and emerged with a ticket to the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club
in Stillwater, Okla. after finishing tied for second, just a shot behind the
host Sooners. And then-junior Travis Trace left Norman with a first-place
trophy after capturing the individual title by a shot.
North Florida was at it again this week in the General
Hackler Championship at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, site of the 2017 U.S.
Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Ospreys
outdueled Wake Forest, No. 6 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, by five shots to claim the team title.
And there was that Travis Trace, a senior from Jacksonville,
Fla., putting on a show in Monday’s double-round, firing a 6-under-par 66 over
the 7,233-yard, par-72 Dunes layout in the morning and a 5-under 67 in the
afternoon to take the lead in the individual chase. He backed off in Tuesday’s
final round with a 2-over 74 that left him among a trio tied for third at
9-under 207.
With Trace leading the way, North Florida opened with a
10-under 278 Monday morning and was even better in the afternoon with a
12-under 276 that matched the low team round of the tournament. The Ospreys
closed with a 1-over 289 for a 21-under 843 total.
North Florida started the week ranked 18th by Golfstat, but moved up to 17th
in the aftermath of its General Hackler victory.
Wake Forest, which was led by individual champion Cameron
Young, a senior from Scarborough, N.Y., matched North Florida’s opening-round
278, but fell four shots behind the Ospreys with an 8-under 280. The Demon
Deacons, an Atlantic Coast Conference power, closed with a 2-over 290 to take
runnerup honors at 16-under 848.
Liberty, which matched the low round of the tournament with
its 12-under 276 in the second round, closed with a 3-over 291 to finish a shot
behind Wake Forest in third at 15-under 849. Liberty began the week ranked 25th
and its performance in the General Hackler moved it up to 21st, its
website proclaiming that that’s the highest ranking in the history of the
program.
Louisville, which moved up to No. 25 after beginning the
week at No. 29, finished fourth, four shots behind Liberty in fourth at
11-under 853. The Cardinals surged into contention with a 10-under 278 in the
second round before finishing up with a 3-over 291.
Georgia moved up to No. 15 from No. 17 with its fifth-place
finish in the General Hackler. The Bulldogs, out of the powerful Southeastern
Conference, were under par in each round, opening with a 1-under 287 and adding
a 4-under 284 Monday afternoon before finishing up with a 5-under 283 for a
10-under 854 total.
Another SEC entry, No. 71 Kentucky, finished sixth in the 13-team
field with a 6-under 858 total. The Wildcats had a strong double-round Monday,
opening with a 4-under 284 and adding a 6-under 282. They closed with a 4-over
292 and were the only other team to finish under par for the tournament.
Backing up Trace for North Florida was Jordan Batchelor, a
redshirt senior from Jacksonville, Fla., who ended up in the group tied for 10th
at 4-under 212. Batchelor opened with a 4-under 68 and added a 1-over 73 that
was a throw-out for the Ospreys before closing with a solid 1-under 71.
Phillip Knowles, a senior from Bradenton, Fla., was the
picture of consistency, rattling off three straight 1-under 71s to finish a
shot behind Batchelor in the group tied for 13th at 3-under 213.
Andrew Alligood, a senior for Saint Johns, Fla., gave North
Florida four players under par for the tournament as he sandwiched a 4-under 68
in the second round with a pair of 1-over 73s to finish among the group tied
for 17th at 2-under 214.
Michael Mattiace, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla., finished
among the group tied for 66th at 228, but his 2-under 70 in the second
round was an important counter toward the Ospreys’ best team round of the
tournament.
Wake Forest’s Young was nearly as good as North Florida’s
Trace in Monday’s double-round as he matched Trace’s opening-round 66 and added
a 68 to trail Trace by just a shot at 10-under 134 after two rounds.
Young closed with a 2-under 70 for a 12-under 204 total that
gave him a two-shot victory over Kentucky’s Lukas Euler, a senior from Germany.
Euler went 67-68 and trailed Trace by two shots after Monday’s double-round
before closing with a 1-under 71 that gave him runnerup honors at 10-under 206.
Joining Trace in the trio tied for third at 9-under 207 were
Liberty’s Ervin Chang, a junior from Malaysia, and Georgia’s Trent Phillips, a
freshman from Inman, S.C. and the No. 38 player in the World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR). Chang closed with a 4-under 68 while Phillips matched the low
round of the tournament with a sizzling 6-under 66 in the final round.
Young’s teammate, Eric Bae, a junior from Pinehurst, N.C.,
finished alone in sixth at 7-under 209 after following up a pair of 3-under 69s
Monday with a closing 1-under 71.
Leading a group of three players tied for seventh at 5-under
211 was Wake Forest’s Alex Fitzpatrick, a freshman from England and No. 44 in
the WAGR who was competing as individual.
I mentioned in my post Tuesday that Wake Forest is so deep it sent a full B team to the Bash at the Beach at the Surf & Beach Club,
also in Myrtle Beach and the second string finished a shot behind Jacksonville
State for the team title.
Fitzpatrick got to stay with the A team at the Dunes and
made a pretty good case for a spot in the starting lineup as he added a 4-under 68
to his opening-round 72 and finished up with a 1-under 71 to end up in the tie
for seventh.
You might remember the 14-year-old Fitzpatrick lugging the
bag every step of the way as big brother Matthew, a PGA Tour pro these days,
won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Alex
Fitzpatrick returned to the U.S. Amateur as a player last summer at the Pebble
Beach Golf Links and reached the quarterfinals before falling to another pretty
good college freshman this year, Texas’ Cole Hammer, 4 and 3.
Joining Alex Fitzpatrick in the trio tied at 5-under 211
were Chang’s Liberty teammate, Gabe Lench, a senior from Lake Mary, Fla., and
East Carolina’s A.J. Beechler, a freshman from Pinehurst, N.C. Lench and Beechler each matched the low round of
the tournament, Lench firing a 6-under 66 in the second round before finishing
up with a 2-over 74 and Beechler surging up the leaderboard in Tuesday’s final
round with his sparkling 6-under 66.
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