FARMINGDALE, NY - Florida Southern concluded play here Sunday in the season opening The Doc Gimmler hosted by St. John's University and held here at historic Bethpage State Park's Red Course by tying for third place out of 14 teams.
The Moccasins, who were sitting in fourth place with a 559 after Saturday's first two rounds, finished the 54-hole event by shooting a two-under 838 after carding a final round score of one-under par 279. FSC opened the tournament on Saturday with rounds of 275 (-5) and 284 (+4) respectively. FSC's final score of 279 was tied for the fourth lowest round of the day.
Yale took home the team title in a runaway as the Bulldogs carded a 20-under par score of 820 for 54 holes after firing a six-under par 274 in Sunday's final round. Yale shot 270 and 276 in the first two rounds. Yale finished 16 strokes in front of Harvard, who carded an 836 to finish in second, while FSC and Marquette each shot 838's to finish tied for third. Marquette shot a 280 in the final round after firing rounds of 282 and 276 on Saturday.
Leading the way for the Mocs was senior Tim Crouch (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) and freshman Jason Huntington (Lakeland, Fla.), who each fired even-par scores of 210 for 54 holes to finish tied for 14th overall. Crouch, who is the defending NCAA Division II individual national champion, shot a one-under 69 in Sunday's final round after firing rounds of 68 and 73 in the first two rounds, while Huntington carded a two-under 68 in the final round after shooting a 70 and 72 in the first two rounds of his first collegiate tournament.
Yale's Joe Willis, who carded a seven-under 63 in the first round, led wire-to-wire to claim individual medalist honors as he fired an 11-under 199 for 54 holes to claim first place by one shot over Columbia's Brandon Jowers, who shot a 10-under 200 after firing a 66 in the final round. Yale's Jonathan Lai (66, 69, 70) and Temple's Brandon Matthews (66, 69, 70) each shot five-under par 205's to tie for third place.
In addition to Crouch and Huntington, Shane Convery (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) got his senior campaign off to a good start as he fired a one-over par 211 for 54 holes to tie for 19th place. Convery fired rounds of 68, 69 and 74 in Sunday's final round. Sophomore Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla.) was the next finisher for FSC as he carded a two-over 212 for 54 holes to finish tied for 25th place and redshirt sophomore Alex Carpenter (Westerville, Ohio) shot a three-over 213 for 54 holes to tie for 31st place. Schultz carded rounds of 69, 73 and 70, while Carpenter had rounds of 71, 70 and 72 respectively.
Five of the 14 teams in the tournament finished with scores of under par for 54 holes, while 18 players shot even par or better in the tournament.
The Mocs will return to action Sept. 30-Oct. 1 as they travel to Columbus, Ga., to compete at the AFLAC Cougar Classic hosted by Columbus State University and held at the Country Club of Columbus.ÂÂ
