Georgia Southern Maintains Position at John Hayt
3/1/2011 11:21:00 PM | Men's Golf
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - Steady play by Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) in windy conditions at the par-72, 6,942-yard Sawgrass Country Club allowed the senior to finish tied for 31st at the John Hayt Invitational. His play, coupled with improved rounds from teammates in the five-man lineup on Tuesday, March 1st, helped Georgia Southern maintain its 13th position on the final day. Arkansas, which started seven strokes back from Auburn in second place, posted a final round 5-under 283 to finish two strokes ahead of the Tigers for first place (285-299-283=867). Florida's Phillip Choi, tied for first place coming into the final round, pulled away from the pack with a 2-under 70 to win individual medalist honors.
"We just made a few bogeys and missed some birdie opportunities," said Head Coach Larry Mays on the Eagles' final-round performance. "The golf course wasn't easy, but it wasn't impossible to post good scores. We are all playing the same. Nobody has broken away from the pack and has had a great round."
Blondell mirrored his second round, shooting a 4-over 76, to capture his best finish at the John Hayt Invitational in three trips. Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) both tied for 46th place. Anderson carded a birdie on a par-4 (#11) to sign for a 5-over 77, one-stroke better than his previous round. Sander fired four birdies, three on the back nine, to finish with a pair of 77s for the final two rounds at the John Hayt.
Recording just one birdie on his first nine holes of the day, Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) recorded a birdie on two of his final three holes to a 77 (+5). Tuesday's score matched Anderson and Sander, and helped Gruber finish in a tie for 63rd place.
Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.), competing as an individual, finished one-stroke back from Gruber in a tie for 68th place. Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) closed out the tournament in 77th place.
Six teams from the John Hayt Invitational will compete this month at the 32nd Schenkel Invitational. Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, North Florida and Tennessee join the 15-team field at the par-72, 6,947-yard Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro March 18-20th.
Georgia Southern has one more tournament before competing in the Schenkel Invitational. The Eagles will travel to the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate March 7-8 at the Palmetto Golf Club in Akien, S.C.
"We have to score and take advantage of our good shots," stated Mays. "When we do hit bad shots, we have to recover and get the ball up and down."
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