LAKELAND - Only two strokes separated Lynn and Barry going into
Tuesday's final round of the Matlock Collegiate Classic, and
Barry's Adam Svensson led Lynn's Ernesto Vitienes by the same
margin. At the end of the day, not much had changed. The Knights
finished with a 6-stroke victory over the Buccaneers, and Svensson
had doubled his lead for a 4-stroke win over Vitienes. Florida
Southern, led by Shane Convery, moved up to seventh in the final
standings.
The 10th-ranked Knights didn't quite lead from start to finish,
but it was close. After ending the first round one stroke behind
#12 Armstrong (GA), the Knights jumped ahead of the Pirates Monday
afternoon, as did top-ranked Barry. With only two strokes between
the two Sunshine State Conference rivals, the final round on
Tuesday figured to be tense. Even with Svensson shooting a 70 for
Barry though, Lynn was still able to widen its lead behind a 68
from Paul McPhee, and a 71 from Keith Greene. Vitienes was only the
Knights' #3 counter on Tuesday with a 72.
McPhee was the clincher though, even after a pair of
non-counting scores on Monday. The 68 was a career-best for the
senior, and it was the third 68 of the tournament for the Knights.
Vitienes and Jose Andres Miranda each had the same score in the
first round, and Vitienes wasn't far off that number with a 69 in
the second.
The only sub-par round counted by Barry on Tuesday was
Svensson's 70, though Scott Smyers had an even-par 72. After a
second-round 64 Monday afternoon, which set a Barry school record,
Svensson began the day with a shot at the tournament scoring
record, but ended up with a still-impressive 11-under par 205.
Though a handful of other golfers over the last 33 years have also
shot a 205 at the Matlock, only two (Florida Southern's Tim Crouch
with a 200 in 2013, and Jeff Klauk with a 204 in 2000) have done
better, and it was the best ever shot by a Buccaneer in their 10
appearances in the tournament. It also made Svensson the first
Barry player to win medalist honors at the Matlock.
Svensson ended a 2-year reign by the Moccasins, who saw Crouch
win in 2013, and Case Gard win in 2012. The sophomore from Surrey,
British Columbia picked up his third tournament win of the
season.
Lynn (-12) and Barry (-6) weren't the only teams to break par in
this year's Matlock Collegiate Classic. Armstrong and Nova
Southeastern, who tied for third, were each at -1. It marked the
first time since 1997 that four teams finished the tournament with
a sub-par score. In 1997, six teams did it: Augusta State (-14),
Wake Forest (-7), Alabama (-5), Ohio State (-4), Georgia (-4) and
Columbus State (-2).
Host Florida Southern put together a strong final round with a
292 that allowed the Moccasins to move into seventh place, and left
them only four shots out of the top-five. It represented a nice
step forward for head coach Doug Gordin's squad in their first
competition of the spring. The 19th-ranked Moccasins were only
three shots behind 2nd-ranked USC-Aiken, which finished sixth, and
ahead of #3 Columbus State and #5 West Florida in addition to three
other top-25 teams.
Convery, a senior from Raymond, Illinois, was the Moccasins'
leader through the tournament with a 14th-place finish. He opened
play with a 74, followed it with a 71, and had a 72 on Tuesday. His
one-over par total of 217 was his best score of the season, as was
his tournament standing.
Crouch (Mount Vernon, Ohio), who is the Moccasins' only other
senior, was tied for 22nd along with sophomore Austin Schultz
(Lakeland, Fla.). Each player had a 220. Crouch had a 72 on
Tuesday, which included another eagle and made him the only player
in the field of 75 who had two eagles in the tournament. Schultz
had a 71 Tuesday, his second straight sub-par round. His 11 birdies
in the tournament were the most by any of the five Moccasin
golfers.
Redshirt sophomore Alex Carpenter (Westerville, Ohio) was tied
for 44th with a 226 (76-73-77), and freshman Jason Huntington
(Lakeland, Fla.) was 69th with a 239 (78-80-81).
Florida Southern's next tournament will be the Armstrong Pirate
Invitational, February 24-25, in Savannah, Georgia.
