WINTER HAVEN â€" Seldom does a hole-in-one prove to be the difference in a tournament. Actually, seldom is there a hole-in-one, but an ace by Nova Southeastern’s Greg O’Mahony was indeed the margin after round two of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
That hole-in-one by O’Mahony came on hole #3 in the second of two rounds played on Monday. By the end of the day, it stood as the difference in the Nova’s one-stroke lead over second-place Barry. The Sharks were 11-under par thanks in large part to their senior All-American who had rounds of 70 and 66. In addition to the eagle on #3, he added another one on the par-five #11 hole.
Even then, O’Mahony had to share the best round of the day. Barry’s Carlos Velez also shot a six-under 66 in round two, which also featured an eagle on #11. That helped the Buccaneers to a team score of 10-under par, while Velez trailed O’Mahony by two shots in the race for medalist honors.
The Bucs were leading the tournament after Monday’s first round, primarily behind the play of Victor Billskoog and Daniel Stapf. Billskoog shot a three-under par 69, and Stapf had a 71. Billskoog had an impressive finish to his opening round of 69. After a pair of early double bogeys, the junior birdied six of his final 12 holes. That included one on the par-five, 570-yard hole #9, the longest on the course.
Eckerd’s Thomas Mathiassen matched Billskoog with a 69, but none of his teammates did better than a 74. That left the Tritons in third place after the first round, trailing the Buccaneers by six strokes. Mathiassen then slumped badly in the second round, shooting an 83 to fall out of the running.
The afternoon belonged to Nova Southeastern. In addition to the 66 by O’Mahony, the Sharks also got a 68 from Ben Vertz, a 70 from Byron White and a 71 from Bobby Bode. That added up to a 13-under par 275 for the Sharks, which allowed them to barely overtake the Buccaneers.
The Bucs had to count nothing worse than a 72 in the second round and shot 280 as a team.
Host Florida Southern, which won the conference title in 2008, got a 71 from Brian Richey and a 72 from Rob Gleixner in round one, but Jude Eustaquio shot a 76 and Matt Stauch shot a 78. Heading into the tournament, Eustaquio and Stauch had been the Moccasins’ top two golfers. Those scores put the Mocs in sixth place halfway through the day, 11 strokes behind Barry.
The Mocs re-grouped after the break as Eustaquio and Stauch responded by each shooting a 71. Richey also had a 71 while Danny Evelyn carded a 75 for the Mocs’ final counter. Those scores moved Florida Southern past Lynn and Eckerd and into fourth place at the end of the day; but the Mocs were still 20 strokes behind Nova Southeastern, leaving them in a race for third with Rollins.
The final round of the SSC Tournament begins on Tuesday morning with an 8:30 shotgun start at Lake Region Yacht and Country Club.
                        2009 Men's SSC Tournament   Â
                        Lake Region Yacht & CC  Winter Haven,FL
                        Dates: 04/20 - 04/21    (Today:04-20-2009)
                                  Par:       72              Â
                                  Yardage: 6556              Â
     Fin.  School                  ScoresÂ
        1  Nova Southeastern U.    290 275   565      -11
        2  Barry University        286 280   566      -10
        3  Rollins College         293 285   578       +2
        4  Florida Southern Col    297 288   585       +9
        5  Lynn University         295 291   586      +10
        6  Eckerd College          292 302   594      +18
        7  Florida Inst of Tech    302 296   598      +22
        8  Tampa, U. of            304 303   607      +31
        9  St. Leo University      309 303   612      +36
  Fin.  Name                  School      ScoresÂ
     1  Greg O'Mahony         Nova SE      70  66   136  -8
     2  Carlos Velez          Barry U.     72  66   138  -6
     3  J.D. Guinney          Rollins      71  68   139  -5
     4  Victor Billskoog      Barry U.     69  72   141  -3
     5  Brian Richey          Fl. South    71  71   142  -2
     6  Steven Brame          Lynn U.      71  72   143  -1
         Byron White           Nova SE      73  70   143  -1
         Daniel Stapff         Barry U.     71  72   143  -1
     9  Lance Gillett         FL Tech      73  71   144   E
         Ben Vertz             Nova SE      76  68   144   E
         Chris Carlin          Barry U.     74  70   144   E
    12  Marcus Williams       Lynn U.      77  68   145  +1
    13  Jordan Lewis          Rollins      73  73   146  +2
    14  Jude Eustaquio        Fl. South    76  71   147  +3
         Colin Dolph           Rollins      75  72   147  +3
         Callum Georgallides   Eckerd       75  72   147  +3
         Hunter Stone          Rollins      74  73   147  +3
         Jack Bartlett         Nova SE      71  76   147  +3
         Chris Goldan          Lynn U.      71  76   147  +3
    20  Robert Gleixner       Fl. South    72  76   148  +4
         Kris Shane            Tampa        72  76   148  +4
    22  Matt Stauch           Fl. South    78  71   149  +5
         Cole Cisbani          St. Leo      75  74   149  +5
         Ryan Barnett          Tampa        75  74   149  +5
         Matt Baker            Eckerd       74  75   149  +5
    26  Preston Roberts       Barry U.     75  75   150  +6
    27  Mark McGuire          St. Leo      78  73   151  +7
         Kyle Westhorpe        FL Tech      77  74   151  +7
         Bobby Bode            Nova SE      80  71   151  +7
         James McDonough       Rollins      79  72   151  +7
    31  Patricio Salem        Lynn U.      77  75   152  +8
         Robert Schmidt        FL Tech      74  78   152  +8
         Thomas Mathiassen     Eckerd       69  83   152  +8
    34  Colin Fabbi           FL Tech      78  75   153  +9
         David Rose            Lynn U.      76  77   153  +9
         Ryan Cuitino          Eckerd       74  79   153  +9
    37  Nicolas Jutigny       Tampa        78  76   154 +10
         Danny Evelyn          Fl. South    79  75   154 +10
    39  Luca Bell             Eckerd       79  76   155 +11
         Tom Lynn              St. Leo      79  76   155 +11
         Ryan Borroso          FL Tech      79  76   155 +11
    42  Chad Bouchard         Tampa        79  77   156 +12
    43  JP Albuquerque        St. Leo      77  80   157 +13
    44  Kyle Roy              Tampa        83  78   161 +17
    45  Tom Crawford          St. Leo      81  82   163 +19
     Fin.  School                  ScoresÂ
        1  Nova Southeastern U.    290 275   565
        1   Greg O'Mahony           70  66   136
     T 6   Byron White             73  70   143
     T 9   Ben Vertz               76  68   144
     T 14   Jack Bartlett           71  76   147
     T 27   Bobby Bode              80  71   151
        2  Barry University        286 280   566
        2   Carlos Velez            72  66   138
        4   Victor Billskoog        69  72   141
     T 6   Daniel Stapff           71  72   143
     T 9   Chris Carlin            74  70   144
       26   Preston Roberts         75  75   150
        3  Rollins College         293 285   578
        3   J.D. Guinney            71  68   139
       13   Jordan Lewis            73  73   146
     T 14   Colin Dolph             75  72   147
     T 14   Hunter Stone            74  73   147
     T 27   James McDonough         79  72   151
        4  Florida Southern Col    297 288   585
        5   Brian Richey            71  71   142
     T 14   Jude Eustaquio          76  71   147
     T 20   Robert Gleixner         72  76   148
     T 22   Matt Stauch             78  71   149
     T 37   Danny Evelyn            79  75   154
        5  Lynn University         295 291   586
     T 6   Steven Brame            71  72   143
       12   Marcus Williams         77  68   145
     T 14   Chris Goldan            71  76   147
     T 31   Patricio Salem          77  75   152
     T 34   David Rose              76  77   153
        6  Eckerd College          292 302   594
     T 14   Callum Georgallides     75  72   147
     T 22   Matt Baker              74  75   149
     T 31   Thomas Mathiassen       69  83   152
     T 34   Ryan Cuitino            74  79   153
     T 39   Luca Bell               79  76   155
        7  Florida Inst of Tech    302 296   598
     T 9   Lance Gillett           73  71   144
     T 27   Kyle Westhorpe          77  74   151
     T 31   Robert Schmidt          74  78   152
     T 34   Colin Fabbi             78  75   153
     T 39   Ryan Borroso            79  76   155
        8  Tampa, U. of            304 303   607
     T 20   Kris Shane              72  76   148
     T 22   Ryan Barnett            75  74   149
     T 37   Nicolas Jutigny         78  76   154
       42   Chad Bouchard           79  77   156
       44   Kyle Roy                83  78   161
        9  St. Leo University      309 303   612
     T 22   Cole Cisbani            75  74   149
     T 27   Mark McGuire            78  73   151
     T 39   Tom Lynn                79  76   155
       43   JP Albuquerque          77  80   157
       45   Tom Crawford            81  82   163
                        2009 Men's SSC Tournament   Â
                        Round 3 Pairings
     Hole: 1A    Byron White          JR   Nova Southeastern U.
        8:30      Victor Billskoog     JR   Barry University  Â
                   Jordan Lewis               Rollins College   Â
     Hole: 1B    Greg O'Mahony        SR   Nova Southeastern U.
        8:30      Carlos Velez         JR   Barry University  Â
                   J.D. Guinney               Rollins College   Â
     Hole: 2A    Jack Bartlett        SO   Nova Southeastern U.
        8:30      Chris Carlin         SO   Barry University  Â
                   Hunter Stone         FR   Rollins College   Â
     Hole: 2B    Ben Vertz            FR   Nova Southeastern U.
        8:30      Daniel Stapff        FR   Barry University  Â
                   Colin Dolph          JR   Rollins College   Â
     Hole: 3     Bobby Bode           SO   Nova Southeastern U.
        8:30      Preston Roberts      SR   Barry University  Â
                   James McDonough      JR   Rollins College   Â
     Hole: 4A    Jude Eustaquio       SO   Florida Southern Col
        8:30      Marcus Williams      JR   Lynn University   Â
                   Matt Baker           SO   Eckerd College    Â
     Hole: 4B    Brian Richey         SR   Florida Southern Col
        8:30      Steven Brame         JR   Lynn University   Â
                   Callum Georgallides  FR   Eckerd College    Â
     Hole: 5A    Matt Stauch          JR   Florida Southern Col
        8:30      Patricio Salem       JR   Lynn University   Â
                   Ryan Cuitino         JR   Eckerd College    Â
     Hole: 5B    Robert Gleixner      SO   Florida Southern Col
        8:30      Chris Goldan         JR   Lynn University   Â
                   Thomas Mathiassen    SR   Eckerd College    Â
     Hole: 6     Danny Evelyn         JR   Florida Southern Col
        8:30      David Rose           SO   Lynn University   Â
                   Luca Bell            SO   Eckerd College    Â
     Hole: 7A    Kyle Westhorpe       SR   Florida Inst of Tech
        8:30      Ryan Barnett         SR   Tampa, U. of      Â
                   Mark McGuire         JR   St. Leo UniversityÂ
     Hole: 7B    Lance Gillett        SR   Florida Inst of Tech
        8:30      Kris Shane           SO   Tampa, U. of      Â
                   Cole Cisbani         JR   St. Leo UniversityÂ
     Hole: 8A    Colin Fabbi          FR   Florida Inst of Tech
        8:30      Chad Bouchard        SR   Tampa, U. of      Â
                   JP Albuquerque       JR   St. Leo UniversityÂ
     Hole: 8B    Robert Schmidt       FR   Florida Inst of Tech
        8:30      Nicolas Jutigny      SO   Tampa, U. of      Â
                   Tom Lynn             SO   St. Leo UniversityÂ
     Hole: 9     Ryan Borroso         JR   Florida Inst of Tech
        8:30      Kyle Roy             SO   Tampa, U. of      Â
                   Tom Crawford               St. Leo UniversityÂ