Men’s Golf Finishes Tied For Fourth At NCAA Championship
(Courtesy of Wes Gullett, Sports Information Director at Greensboro College)
HOWIE-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Greensboro College’s quest for a third men’s golf national championship came up short Friday as the Pride finished in a fourth place tie at the 2017 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship.
The Pride entered the final day in a fourth-place tie but struggled early, and could not quite recover, shooting a 11-over-par, 299, on the par-72 El Campeon Golf Course at the Mission Inn Resort & Club.
“We got off to an extremely slow start,” Coach Jim Cantamessa said. “We had a lot of good looks throughout the round but just could not get our putts to drop.”
“The guys made a late push and competed all the way to the very end. I am very proud of their performance all week.”
Freshman Grant Powell paced Greensboro over the final 18-holes with a one-over-par, 73.
Powell got off to a tough start as he fell to two-over-par through three holes, but was able to settle in over the final 15 holes.
Following a bogey on the par-4 third, Powell pared the next 11 holes before recording his lone birdie of the round on the par-3 15. Powell then continued his par streak over the final three holes.
“I hung in there all day,” Powell said. “I took it one shot at a time and to go bogey free over the final 15 holes was awesome. It was a good finish to the year.
“I had a lot of nerves this week playing on this stage as a freshman, but I am happy that I could give our team a good round to close things out,” Powell added. “This was my first taste of this and I cannot wait to do it again next year.”
Sean O’Connor, who finished the 54-hole event at seven-over-par, carded at two-over-par, 74, on the day.
After bogeying the opening hole of the day, O’Connor quickly got back to even-par with a birdie on the par-3 second but found himself at three-over following nine holes.
Despite recording a bogy on the par-4 ninth, O’Connor recorded birdies on the 10th, 14th and 16th holes before recording a double-bogy on the par-4 18 to finish the round.
Luke Grogan tallied two birdies on the afternoon en route to a three-over-par, 75, to finish the event at nine-over-par.
Levi Grogan carded a five-over-par, 77, to also finish at nine-over-par, while Scott Campbell, who recorded an eight-over-par round, finished the tournament at 20-over-par.
“Our performance this week shows that our program has a really bright future,” Cantamessa added. “We do not have any seniors on our team and I am really looking forward to making another run at it next season.”
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