2008 Woodie Awards
Golf suffers disappointing finish
No. 14 Gamecocks place eleventh, struggle in midseason tournament
Michael Aguilar
Assistant Sports Editor
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports
The excitement that has surrounded the men's golf program all season is mildly deflated after a weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The John Hayt Invitational is one of the most elite college golf tournaments in the nation. This year's tournament saw 15 teams participating, traveling from as far as UCLA and Pepperdine. Out of those 15 teams, 9 were either receiving votes in the Golf Coaches Association of America poll or ranked in the top 25, including the Gamecocks, who entered the weekend ranked at No. 14.
However, at the end of the weekend, USC suffered some disappointment. The Gamecocks came out of the weekend in eleventh place. That finish on Tuesday is a three spot fall from where they stood after two rounds.
Carolina finished five strokes ahead of their nearest competitor, No. 22 Indiana, and only one shot behind No. 18 Pepperdine and Georgia State, who tied for ninth.
Senior Mark Anderson, who came in ninth individually in the tournament, led Carolina. Anderson led the Gamecocks in the first and second rounds finishing with a 71 and 72 respectively. In the final round he came in with a 75, thanks in part to back-to-back birdies to close out the front nine.
The second highest finish for Carolina came from senior Warren Thomas. Thomas has participated in only one tournament thus far in the 2007-2008 campaign but he showed very little signs of rush by scoring a 221 (+5). Despite opening the tournament with an ugly 77, Thomas steadily improved, posting a 73 on Monday and closing the tournament with a 71 thanks to four birdies in his last round.
Rounding out the tournament lineup for USC were sophomores George Bryan IV and Bryan Miller, and junior Mark Silvers III.
Bryan pulled a share of 38th place due to an even improvement from a first round 77 to a second round 75 and finally a closing round 74. Bryan's combined score of 226 (+ 10) was good enough to fetch him a top 50 finish at 38th.
Slivers started strong but hit rock bottom in the final round posting an 81 following a opening round 74 and a 75 on Tuesday. In the end his combined score of 230 put him at 59th place.
Miller struggled throughout the weekend. He posted his highest score on Sunday with a 79. In the second round he got beat up by the course and posted checked in with an 86. After a final round 81 he finished with in 81st place.
Carolina will continue the season on Friday, March 14, at the Schenkel EZ-Go Invitational.
The John Hayt Invitational is one of the most elite college golf tournaments in the nation. This year's tournament saw 15 teams participating, traveling from as far as UCLA and Pepperdine. Out of those 15 teams, 9 were either receiving votes in the Golf Coaches Association of America poll or ranked in the top 25, including the Gamecocks, who entered the weekend ranked at No. 14.
However, at the end of the weekend, USC suffered some disappointment. The Gamecocks came out of the weekend in eleventh place. That finish on Tuesday is a three spot fall from where they stood after two rounds.
Carolina finished five strokes ahead of their nearest competitor, No. 22 Indiana, and only one shot behind No. 18 Pepperdine and Georgia State, who tied for ninth.
Senior Mark Anderson, who came in ninth individually in the tournament, led Carolina. Anderson led the Gamecocks in the first and second rounds finishing with a 71 and 72 respectively. In the final round he came in with a 75, thanks in part to back-to-back birdies to close out the front nine.
The second highest finish for Carolina came from senior Warren Thomas. Thomas has participated in only one tournament thus far in the 2007-2008 campaign but he showed very little signs of rush by scoring a 221 (+5). Despite opening the tournament with an ugly 77, Thomas steadily improved, posting a 73 on Monday and closing the tournament with a 71 thanks to four birdies in his last round.
Rounding out the tournament lineup for USC were sophomores George Bryan IV and Bryan Miller, and junior Mark Silvers III.
Bryan pulled a share of 38th place due to an even improvement from a first round 77 to a second round 75 and finally a closing round 74. Bryan's combined score of 226 (+ 10) was good enough to fetch him a top 50 finish at 38th.
Slivers started strong but hit rock bottom in the final round posting an 81 following a opening round 74 and a 75 on Tuesday. In the end his combined score of 230 put him at 59th place.
Miller struggled throughout the weekend. He posted his highest score on Sunday with a 79. In the second round he got beat up by the course and posted checked in with an 86. After a final round 81 he finished with in 81st place.
Carolina will continue the season on Friday, March 14, at the Schenkel EZ-Go Invitational.
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