Carr leads the way as Georgia Southern captures team crown in Colleton River Collegiate

   Georgia Southern is one of those sneaky good men’s college golf programs.

   After losing to Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference’s match-play final last spring, the Eagles headed for the NCAA’s New Haven Regional at the classic Yale Golf Club layout as an eight seed and grabbed the final berth available to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Georgia Southern entered the Colleton River Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Colleton River Club’s Jack Nicklaus Course in Bluffton, S.C., at No. 24 in the Golfstat rankings and left ranked 20^th after outlasting Kansas State, out of the Big 12, by two shots to claim the team crown.

   The Eagles were led by Ben Carr, a fifth-year player from Columbus, Ga. and No. 56 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who was one of four players who finished in a tie for second place, a shot behind individual champion August Meekhoff, a Michigan State junior from Coopersville, Mich.

   Carr reached the final of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., battling Sam Bennett to the final hole of the scheduled 36-hole match before Bennett pulled out a 1-up victory. That runnerup finish means Carr will be representing Georgia Southern in the Masters next month.

   After opening with a 1-over-par 73 over the 7,085-yard, par-72 Jack Nicklaus Course at Colleton River, Carr recorded a sizzling 7-under 65 in the afternoon of Monday’s double round before closing with a 4-under 68 for a 10-under 206 total.

   Carr’s 65 helped Georgia Southern fire the low team round of the tournament, a 20-under 268, and creep within five shots of front-running Kansas State. The Eagles had opened with a 7-under 281.

   Kansas State had opened with a pretty spectacular 19-under 269 of its own and added a 13-under 275 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Georgia Southern closed with another 7-under 281 in Tuesday’s final round for a 34-under 830 total.

   Kansas State matched par in the final round with a 288 for a 32-under 832 total that left it two shots behind Georgia Southern. Somehow that performance dropped the Wildcats four spots in the Golfstat rankings as they fell from No. 21 to No. 25.

   Kansas State was led by Nicklaus Mason, a sophomore from Shawnee, Kan. who was also part of the quartet along with Georgia Southern’s Carr, tied for second place at 10-under 206.

   Mason held the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his sizzling opening round of 7-under 65. Mason closed with a 1-over 73 to finish at 10-under.

   Three Big Ten teams accounted for the next three spots in the team standings as No. 50 Michigan State, behind Meekhoff, took third place with a 26-under 838 total, No. 86 Rutgers was another shot behind the Spartans in fourth with a 25-under 839 total and No. 89 Penn State had an encouraging fifth-place finish, a shot behind the Scarlet Knights with a 24-under 840 total.

   Michigan State, the host of the Colleton River Collegiate, put together two solid rounds in Monday’s double round, opening with a 13-under 275 and adding a 10-under 278 in the afternoon. The Spartans closed with a 3-under 285.

   Michigan State did come away from Bluffton with a trophy as Meekhoff added a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 68 that left him four shots behind Kansas State’s Mason heading into the final round. Meekhoff carded another 68 in the final round for an 11-under 205 total that left him one shot clear of the foursome tied for second place.

   Rutgers opened with a solid 11-under 277 and added a 5-under 283 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 9-under 279.

   The Scarlet Knights were led by Rhett Sellers, a junior from Longview, Texas who finished in a tie for sixth place with a 9-under 207 total. Sellers got off to a fast start with a sparkling 7-under 65, but backed off a little with a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Penn State also played well in Monday’s double round, adding a 9-under 279 in Monday afternoon’s second round to an opening round of 13-under 275, before finishing up with a 2-under 286. While the Nittany Lions finished behind two Big Ten rivals in Michigan State and Rutgers, they did finish ahead of  three others, Minnesota in seventh place (21-under 843) and Ohio State and Indiana, which were two of the three teams tied for eighth place (20-under 844).

   The Nittany Lions were led by James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y. who was among a group of five players tied for eighth place with an 8-under 208 total. Allen fueled Penn State’s fast start by recording a 6-under 66. He added a 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   No. 46 Missouri, out of the tough Southeastern Conference, finished a shot behind Penn State in sixth place in the 12-team field with a 23-under 841 total. The Tigers added a 10-under 278 in Monday afternoon’s second round to their opening round of 9-under 279 before closing with a 4-under 284.

   Backing up Carr for Georgia Southern was William Andress, a fifth-year player from Macon, Ga. who finished in a large group tied for 13^th place with a 7-under 209 total. Andress carded back-to-back 3-under 69s in Monday’s double round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   Georgia Southern’s Mason Williams, a fifth-year player from Bridgewater, W.Va., and Hogan Ingram, a sophomore from Rome, Ga., both landed among the group tied for 23^rd place at 5-under 211.

   Williams, who finished in a tie for 20^th place in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring, was just two shots off the lead going into the final round in the Colleton River as he was the low Eagle in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 6-under 66 after opening with a 3-under 69. Williams struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 76,

   Ingram matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-under 71 before contributing a crucial 4-under 68 in the final round as the Eagles were trying to hold off Kansas State.

   Rounding out the Georgia Southern lineup was Parker Claxton, a freshman from Claxton, Ga. who finished in the group tied for 41^st place with a 2-under 214 total. Claxton matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 74, an important counter for the Eagles.

   Joining Georgia Southern’s Carr and Kansas State’s Mason in the foursome tied for second place at 10-under 206 were Minnesota’s Ben Warian, a junior from Stillwater, Minn., and Missouri’s Alfons Bondesson, a freshman from Sweden.

   Warian was just one shot off the lead heading into Tuesday’s final round after opening with a 7-under 65 and adding a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Warian matched par in the final round with a 72.

   Bondesson opened by matching the best individual round of the tournament, a scintillating 8-under 64, the second-best round recorded by a true freshman in the history of the program at Missouri. A 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round left him just a shot out of the lead heading into Tuesday’s final round. Like Warian, Bondesson matched par in the final round with a 72.

   Joining Rutgers’ Sellers in a tie for sixth place at 9-under was Iowa State’s Luke Gutschewski, a sophomore from Elkhorn, Neb. who, after opening with a 1-over 73, matched the low round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70. Gutschewski was one of four co-medalists in qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood.

   Joining Penn State’s Allen in the quintet tied for eighth place at 8-under 208 were Indiana’s Mitch Davis, a fifth-year player from Valparaiso, Ind., Gutschewski’s Iowa State teammate, Lukas Pany, a junior from Spain, Bondesson’s Missouri teammate, Charlie Crockett, a senior from England, and Ohio State’s Adam Wallin, a junior from Sweden.

   Davis added a 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 71 before closing with a 3-under 69. After opening with a solid 2-under 70, Pany registered back-to-back 4-under 68s in the final two rounds.

   Crockett added a 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 3-under 69 before finishing up with a 71. Wallin opened with a 4-under 68 and added a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round before matching Crockett’s final-round 71.

   Penn State got a really nice showing from freshman Billy Pabst Jr., the PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at North Pocono in 2021 at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County who backed up Allen by finishing in the group tied for 13^th place with a 7-under 209 total.

   Pabst matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 3-under 69 before closing with a solid 4-under 68.

   Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md., finished in the group tied for 30^th place at 4-under 212 as he matched par in the final round with a 72 after carding a pair of 2-under 70s in Monday’s double round.

   Senior Jimmy Meyers, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, also played well in Monday’s double round, adding a 3-under 69 in the afternoon to his opening round of 70 before closing with a 2-over 74 that left him in the group tied for 34^th place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was senior Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East in 2018 who finished in a tie for 59^th place with a 4-over 220 total. The long-hitting Sheehan posted a 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round after matching par in the opening round with a 72, but struggled in the final round, closing with a 6-over 78.

   Jack Zubkus, a freshman from Ada, Mich., competed as an individual for the Nittany Lions and closed with a 2-under 70 to finish alone in 67^th place with a 7-over 223 total. Zubkus had opened with a 2-over 74, but struggled to a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Meyers’ teammate on Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 state championship team, Neal Shipley, was in the Ohio State lineup as he transferred to Columbus from James Madison and finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Shipley, who captured the Pennsylvania Amateur crown last summer at Llanerch Country Club, sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s.