Alabama Takes Home Second Straight Schenkel Invitational Title
3/17/2013 9:20:19 PM | Men's Golf
Final results (PDF)
STATESBORO, Ga. – Justin Thomas shot a 70, and Bobby Wyatt carded a 71 to lead Alabama to a 285 team score and a second consecutive Schenkel Invitational team title Sunday at Forest Heights Country Club.
It's the third Schenkel championship for the Crimson Tide, who posted a three-round team score of 848 (-16) and topped second-place Texas (-6) by 10 strokes. It's also the seventh straight year an SEC team has won the tournament.
North Florida (+4) jumped from fifth ahead of Florida and into third on the strength of Sean Dale's 67, the lowest individual score of the day. The Ospreys shot a team low 283 (-5) for the round. Florida (+9) dropped to fourth, and Central Florida (+13) maintained its spot in fifth.
Thomas won the individual title after carding a three-round total of 207 (-9). The sophomore, who started the day with a three-shot lead, extended the margin early by birdieing three of his first four holes. He added an eagle at the par-5 seventh before finishing the front nine with a bogey. He parred the first eight holes of the back nine and bogeyed 18 for his 70.
Brandon Stone of Texas shot a 69 today to finish 6-under for the tournament and take second place. Dale (-5) moved into a tie for third with Alabama's Bobby Wyatt, who carded a 71 today.
Georgia Southern's Scott Wolfes (-4), who played his final three holes of each round a combined 6-under par, posted a 70 to tie for fifth. It's the first top-5 finish for an Eagle at the Schenkel since Logan Blondell placed third in 2008. Texas' Cody Gribble (-4) shot a 71 to finish in a tie with Wolfes.
Georgia Southern, which teed off on hole 10 today, charged up the leaderboard after the turn as the Eagles' top foursome played the front nine at a combined 4-under par.
GSU went into its final two holes deadlocked with Kentucky and Vanderbilt in a tie for sixth after Hayden Anderson shot 3-under-par on his final four holes, and eagled his last hole of the day to log a 73.
Charlie Martin kept the rally going by birdieing hole 7, one of three birdies on the front nine for the sophomore en route to posting a 73. Wolfes (right) followed by birdieing hole 7 and parring 8 and 9, and the Eagles moved up five spots to finish in a tie for sixth with Kentucky (+19). Vanderbilt fell to eighth (+23).
Will Evans played the front nine at 1-over and had two birdies and three bogeys on the back nine to log a 74. Blake Olson finished strong again, playing his last nine at 2-over to post a 79.
"It was a good day for the Eagles and another top-5 finish for Scott," said Georgia Southern coach Larry Mays. "We eliminated most of our mistakes out there and made a few birdies coming in that helped us move up the leaderboard. Our final round scoring average continues to be very good this season."
Georgia Southern's Matt Mierzejewski, Caleb Morris and Christian Humber all played as individuals. Mierzejewski shot a 76 today to finish the tournament with a 226, and Morris carded a 75 for a tournament total of 229. Humber shot an 83 and finished the tourney with a 241.
Georgia Southern returns to action at the Gary Koch Intercollegiate April 8-9 at Old Memorial Golf Club in Tampa, Fla.
About the Schenkel
The Schenkel Invitational is named after Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Chris Schenkel. Schenkel, who was the first to cover The Masters on television, the first to anchor a live telecast of the Olympics and to call a nationally broadcast college football game, helped lend his name to a tournament that has grown into one of the premier collegiate golf tournaments in the nation. He grew familiar with Statesboro by spending nine months in a language institute at Georgia Teachers College (now known as Georgia Southern University) as part of his duties with the U.S. Army during World War II.
The lending of Schenkel's name and contacts helped the tournament get started in 1971 and annually attracts an elite field from across the country. The tournament has attracted 68 different schools from 25 states and the nation's capital. Current and past PGA pros Curtis Strange, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Hal Sutton, Jodie Mudd, Luke Donald, Lucas Glover, Bill Haas and Bubba Watson have competed in the Schenkel.
Through the years, six teams and three players have won the tournament en route to capturing the NCAA team and individual titles. Florida (1973), Wake Forest (1974, 1986) and Oklahoma State (1980, 1983, 1987) won both team titles. Curtis Strange and Gary Halberg, both from Wake Forest, won the tournament and NCAA Championship in 1974 and 1979, respectively. Matt Hill of N.C. State was the most recent golfer to accomplish the feat, winning both titles in 2009.
Six U.S. Open, four PGA, two British Open and one Masters titles are among the major wins by individuals who posted a top-10 finish at the Schenkel Invitational during their collegiate careers.
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