LAKELAND – After finishing in third place as a team at the 2012 McDonough Cup, Florida Southern Men’s Golf jumped eight spots to No. 4 in this week’s latest Golfstat Division II rankings.
The Moccasins, who were ranked 12th in last week’s poll, moved up in the rankings after defeating both No. 2 ranked Barry and No. 7 ranked Columbus State at the McDonough Cup Tournament hosted by Rollins. In addition, the Mocs also have a win this season against No. 5 ranked North Alabama and No. 8 ranked Coker College.
With its third place finish at the McDonough Cup, the Mocs ended its fall season with three Top 5 finishes, including taking home the team title at the AFLAC/Cougar Invitational hosted by Columbus State. At the Cougar Invitational, the Mocs defeated North Alabama, Columbus State and Coker College, all teams ranked in the Top 10 of the latest Golfstat poll.
Golfstat is a website that takes statistics from all collegiate golf programs and tournaments in the country and ranks the programs based on their statistical performance. The Mocs are one of three Sunshine State Conference programs ranked in the Top 10 statistically in the nation.
Leading the way for the Mocs this fall has been senior Case Gard (Lakeland, Fla.). Gard closed the fall season with three Top 10 finishes in four tournaments and has a team-best 71.83 scoring average in 12 rounds of golf. Junior Tim Crouch (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) has played in 10 rounds and has a scoring average of 72.90. Crouch had a second place finish at the AFLAC/Cougar Invitational with a score of 211 for 54 holes.
As a whole, the Mocs have a 73.60 scoring average for four tournaments during the fall season and has had five individual Top 10 finishes, including two Top 5 finishes.