Golf wins Matlock to reach No. 1
The GCSU golf team claimed its second team title of the 2009-10 season and took over the No. 1 NCAA Division II ranking after opening its spring schedule with a victory at the Matlock Collegiate Classic at Florida Southern on Feb. 15-16.
The match consisted of three rounds; one on Monday and two on Tuesday, and was held at the par-72, 7,065-yard Lone Palm Golf Club course. The Bobcats finished the three rounds with a score of 863, which was good enough to defeat the Florida Southern hosts by one stroke. Of the five Bobcats that competed, four finished in the Top 10 overall.
Junior Joe Young claimed the individual title by shooting a 71 on Monday, and following that effort with a 67 and 72 in his Tuesday rounds for a 210 total.
“Finishing first overall is a great feeling that I can’t really describe,” Young said. “Personally though, I think the individual win wouldn’t have been the same without the team winning also.”
Coming in seventh was junior Billy Shida, who shot 73 on Monday and a 74, as well as a 70, on Tuesday to earn a two-over par score of 218.
“I feel that we have learned the taste of victory,” Shida said. “It brought us to a No. 1 ranking nationally, but more importantly it helped us to get a small taste of what a victory in May during nationals is going to be like.”
Finishing third for GCSU and ninth overall was senior Francisco Bide, with a score of 76 for the first round and a pair of 71s for rounds two and three, resulting in a 218 overall.
Nipping at his heels was senior Niclas Johansson, who finished one spot behind Bide and rounded out the top-10 finishers by coming in 10th. Johansson improved with each round he played by starting off with a 76 for the first round, carding a 72 for the second round and a 71 for the final round, for an overall 219.
Bringing up the rear for GCSU was freshman Taylor Smith, who also lowered his strokes with each round. Smith finished Monday’s round with a 79, then shot a 75 on Tuesday’s first round, and finished the third round with a 74. That improvement throughout the match resulted in Smith finishing 43rd overall with a total score of 228.
The Bobcats were ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II this past Wednesday in the GolfStat National Head-to-Head Rankings, a system which uses a mathematical method to rank teams, as opposed to voter input.
GCSU is on the road March 1 to Catawba College in North Carolina to play in Richard Rendleman Invitational.
“There is not one thing in general that we need to improve on, we just need to practice in general and work on the players’ game individually,” head coach Jimmy Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of shaking off the rust and hoping for better weather.”
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