Eagles Finish 11th at Administaff Augusta State Invitational
4/5/2009 4:03:00 AM | Men's Golf
AUGUSTA, GA ? On the final day of tournament play at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, the Georgia Southern golf team shot a 10-over par 298 for an 865 (+1) aggregated score to finish 11th in the 17-team field. The Eagles were one shot out of a 10th place finish as Ryan LeFevre was the top finisher for Georgia Southern. The senior carded a 2-under par 214 to finish tied for 31st at the Forest Hills Golf Club.
Augusta State, host to the tournament, ran away from the field with a 36-under par 828. ASU finished 13 strokes ahead of second-place Chattanooga who completed the tournament 23-under par (841). Kent State took third with a three-round total 843 (-21), while UCF and Coastal Carolina tied for fourth at 15-under par (849).
ASU's own Taylor Floyd captured the individualist honors after a 14-under par 202 total. Floyd carded three sub-par rounds to win by four strokes over Chattanooga's Derek Rende who took second place. For the tournament, Rende shot a 10-under 206.
The Eagles teed off on the front nine alongside Georgia State and VCU for the final round. Senior LeFevre led the Eagles' lineup for the tournament. After an opening day 5-under 139, the Boca Raton, Fla. native carded a 3-over par 75 third round for a 31st place tie with a three-day total 214 (-2). LeFevre finished 2-over on the front nine off an opening bogey, double bogey on five and birdie on six. The senior cut off one stroke on the back nine with two bogeys and a birdie on 11.
Just one stroke back, sophomore Logan Blondell tied for 36th place shooting a tournament 215 (-1). Blondell was 2-over heading into the back nine with consecutive bogeys on seven and eight, but a sub-par back nine gave the Lakeland, Fla. native a 1-over for the day. The Eagle rounded out his third round tally after firing off eight pars and a birdie on 17.
Finishing tied for 47th, senior Drew Lethem was 5-over on the day, but tallied a 2-over 218 for the tournament. Lethem opened on hole one with a double bogey but bounced back with seven pars and a bogey on three. The Eagle's 3-over front nine, combined with a 2-over back nine closed out a 5-over 77 third round for Lethem. The Missouri native shot a 218 for the tournament with 71, 70 and 77 rounds, respectively.
Closing out Georgia Southern's lineup were Joe Monte and Jordan Johnstun. Monte finished tied for 65th after a third round 76, 221 (+5) total, while Johnstun's 8-over par 224 placed him in a tie for 73rd. Johnstun offset two double bogeys on the final day with three birdies to finish the day 2-over par.
After opening tournament play with 67 and 73 first two rounds, Spencer Fulford, competing as an individual, stumbled on the final day, carding an 8-over 80. Fulford tied for 60th with a three-day 220 (+4) total.
Georgia Southern concluded regular season play with the tournament. Next up for the Eagles is the Southern Conference Tournament to take place April 19-21 in Florence, SC.
