Golf team finishes in top five at pair of tournaments
The No. 7 Georgia College golf team finished third in their latest tournament, the Bearcat Invitational, hosted by Lander University on March 28 to 29. The Bobcats finished third behind the tournament champion UNC Pembroke and the second place finisher Carson-Newman College.
The Bobcats finished with an overall score 576, shooting a 289 in Monday’s round and a 287 in Tuesday’s round.
Claiming the individual tournament title was Georgia College senior Joe Young. Young shot a 70 in Monday’s round and finished out on Tuesday’s round with a 68, which put him at six strokes under par and giving him the win by two strokes.
“Joe’s quite a golfer, he missed the first two tournaments of the fall with elbow surgery, and came back and had a pretty good fall after that. The struggles Joe faced earlier in the spring were trying to convince himself that he was back and ready to play,” Wilson said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now and let’s just hope he can continue to do that for the rest of the season.”
Coming in second for the Bobcats and finishing in the top 10 was senior Billy Shida. Shooting a 71 on Monday and a 70 on Tuesday put Shida at sixth place. Following Shida for Georgia College was sophomore Patrick Garrett, who finished 36th overall. Garrett shot a 76 on Monday and finished on Tuesday with a 73.
Finishing in 46th in the tournament was sophomore Taylor Smith, who shot a 73 in Monday’s round and completed Tuesday’s round with a 77. Coming in after Smith for the Bobcats was freshman Gavin Harper, who took 54th. Harper shot a 75 in the first round and shot a 76 to finish out on Tuesday. Playing as an individual, senior Matthew Yonz competed in the tournament and shot a 74 on Monday and finished the tournament with a 77 for Tuesday’s round.
On March 21 and 22, Georgia College hosted the Bobcat Invitational. Of the 17 schools that played in the tournament, the Bobcats took fourth place in the tournament overall with a finishing overall score of 860 from three rounds. Finishing first in the tournament was No. 5 Lynn University for the second season in a row. Completing the tournament behind Lynn was No. 8 Barry University for second place ,and finishing in third was No. 4 University of West Florida.
Coming in first for the Bobcats was Young, who shot a 71 in Monday’s first round a, a 73 in the second round on Monday, and closed out with a 67 in Tuesday’s solo round. Young’s overall score at one over-par put him in a three-way tie for second place in the tournament. Finishing second for Georgia College was Harper, who shot a 71 and a 70 in the first two rounds on Monday. The Bobcats are back in action for the PBC Championships in Savannah, which take place on April 11 and 12 and are hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University.
“We’ll start back to work next week. Physically I think the guys are playing not as good as they can but we’re playing okay,” Wilson said. “It’s just being able to focus at the right times and be able to let go of it in between shots and in between rounds instead of grinding and living and dying with every shot. We’re still trying to learn how to relax and understand that it is just a game.”
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