Junior Will Starke and No. 8 South Carolina enjoyed another solid finish against some of the nation’s top teams Tuesday.
At the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, the Gamecocks finished in third place with a score of -11. The event included top-ranked Illinois, No. 2 Florida State, No. 5 Georgia Tech, No. 12 LSU and No. 14 UCLA.
The Seminoles took home the victory with a score of -17 while LSU came in second at -12.
Starke began the third round tied for 41st and bogeyed the second hole, a par-3. However, Starke finished his last 16 holes at -9, with seven birdies and an eagle to match the school record with an -8 63.
Starke has been on fire lately, earning SEC golfer of the week honors two weeks in a row. This season, the junior from Chapin, South Carolina has posted 16 rounds in the 60s. Starke’s 63 is tied with Kyle Thompson and David Seawell for the lowest round in school history.
Starke finished the tournament with a three-round total of 211 (-2), good for 11th overall. Fellow junior Matt NeSmith finished his outstanding week with a final round score of 69, putting him in a tie for sixth at -3.
The top-10 finish was NeSmith’s 14th of his career, tying him for sixth in school history with current volunteer assistant Carl Paulson. NeSmith finished with rounds of 70, 71 and 69, continuing his consistent season.
Despite the team missing some opportunities the previous two days, head coach Bill McDonald saw some applaudable play the final day.
"I'm proud of our effort,” McDonald said. “We gave away too many shots yesterday and just couldn't climb the hill today. Will Starke's round is one of the best I've seen in college golf, and Matt NeSmith's play this week was outstanding. These guys keep putting us in contention to win, and that's a trend we hope to continue going forward."
Senior Will Murphy finished his third-round with a 72 (+1) to finish tied for 16th at -1. The senior had been struggling before the tournament at Floridian Golf Club.
The third place finish was South Carolina’s seventh straight top-five dating back to last fall. The eighth ranked Gamecocks are playing some of their best golf of the season of late and look to carry that momentum into the SEC tournament in mid-April.
Starke’s 11th place finish snapped his streak of six straight top-five finishes. Before the tournament, his 69.33 scoring average was best in the SEC.
The Gamecocks will host the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw beginning Sunday. It will be the last tournament of the year before the SEC Championship, held this year at St. Simon’s Island in Georgia.