Golf settles for fourth as weather cuts tourney short
The GolfStat No. 1 GCSU golf team was on the road to Salisbury, N.C., this past week and finished fourth in the Richard Rendleman Invitational hosted by Catawba. The tournament took place on the 6,665-yard Salisbury Country Club course.
Due to inclement winter weather, the scheduled two-day tournament was cut short after Monday’s round. The Bobcats took fourth place out of the 18 schools that competed with a six-over-par score of 290.
“On Tuesday we had a chance to win, we were five-under-par with only four or five holes remaining when the siren sounded for us to suspend play,” head coach Jimmy Wilson said. “I asked the officials if there would be a delay but they told me they were cancelling the round.”
Leading the pack for GCSU once again was junior Joe Young. Young was the sole Bobcat to finish in the top 10, coming in 10th with an even-par score of 71.
Coming in behind Young for GCSU was senior Francisco Bide, who finished just one stroke behind Young with a score of 72, which allowed Bide to finish the Rendleman Invitational at the No. 15 spot.
Nipping at his fellow Bobcat’s heels with a two-over par score of 73 was junior Billy Shida. He was just shy of finishing in the top 20, coming in 21st. Senior Niclas Johansson finished fourth for the Bobcats behind Shida with a score of 74. Johansson’s score placed him at 27th in the overall tournament.
Bringing up the rear for GCSU was freshman Taylor Smith with a four over-par score of 75. Smith came in just outside the top 30 with a finishing position of 34th on the Salisbury course.
The team that took first for the Rendleman Invitational was No. 14 Lander University, finishing one stroke under par with a total score of 283. Finishing second at Catawba was No. 7 Belmont Abbey, coming in three strokes behind Lander with a score of 285. The team that took third was Queens University, who finished just two strokes ahead of GCSU with 288.
The next destination for the Bobcats is Valdosta State, where they will be competing in the Southeastern Collegiate event, March 15-16.
“Each individual has their own strengths and weaknesses that need to be worked on to get better down the road,” Wilson said. “As long as we have good weather and good practices, we should be ready to compete when we get down there.”
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