DADE CITY - Florida Southern concluded play here Tuesday afternoon in the 2014 Sunshine State Conference Championships by shooting a final round score of 307 to finish the three-day event in seventh place out of nine teams at the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club.
Tuesday's final round was delayed nearly two hours at around 12:15 thanks to lightning and rain in the area. At the time of the stoppage in play, all of the players had at least completed nine holes in Tuesday's final round, which began with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
SSC Golf Championship Central
With its final round score of 307, the 19th-ranked Moccasins concluded the three-day, 54-hole event with a score of 903 as a team, which was 10 shots behind sixth-place Rollins (893), who shot a 310 in the final round and they were three shots in front of eighth-place Eckerd (906), who fired a 301 in the final round.
Top-ranked Barry, who led by 10 shots over Saint Leo heading into Tuesday's final round, carded a final round score of 286 to finish the tournament with a 19-under par 845 to claim its second consecutive league championship. The Buccaneers finished 18 shots in front of second place Saint Leo (863) and 26 shots in front of third-place and No. 2 ranked Lynn (871).
Eighth-ranked Nova Southeastern (874) finished fourth, while Florida Tech (885) was fifth. Following Rollins, FSC and Eckerd in the team standings was Tampa as the Spartans finished with a 54 hole score of 942.
The Mocs were led by the play of sophomore Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla.), who fired a 54 hole total of two-over par 218 to finish in a tie for 13th place. Schultz, who carded an even-par 72 in Tuesday's final round, had three birdies, an eagle on the par-5 No. 9 hole and five bogeys in the final round. Schultz finished with rounds of 72, 74, 72.
Along with taking home the team title, the Bucs also had the individual medalist as Adam Svensson fired a three-under par 69 in the final round and finished with a seven-under par 209 to finish two shots in front of Saint Leo's Joey Savoie, who carded a 211 for 54 holes. Other members of the All-Tournament team included Nova Southeastern's Ricardo Celia (213), Barry's Mario Beltran (213) and Lynn's Keith Greene (214). Celia was the individual medalist at last season's championship.
In addition to Schultz, senior Shane Convery (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) fired a 54 hole total of 222 (+6) to finish in a tie for 16th place. Convery shot a 77 in the final round as he had two birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys in the round, while senior All-American Tim Crouch (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) fired a 78 in the final round and finished with a score of 224 (+8) for 54 holes to finish tied for 20th place. Crouch, who is the defending NCAA Division II National Champion medalist, finished with two birdies and eight bogeys in the final round, including bogeying four of the first five holes he played in the final round. Convery fired rounds of 71, 74 and 77, while Crouch recorded rounds of 75, 71 and 78.
The final counter for the Mocs on Tuesday was freshman Levin Hoffman (Sarstedt, Germany), who carded a final round 80 to push his 54 hole total to 241 as he finished in a tie for 42nd place. Hoffman, who was playing in his first collegiate tournament, recorded his second eagle of the tournament in the final round as he shot a two-under par 3 on the par-5 No. 9 hole. He also recorded an eagle on the same hole in Sunday's opening round. Hoffman posted rounds of 82, 79 and 80 respectively.
FSC's final competitor was freshman Jason Huntington (Lakeland, Fla.) as he shot an 81 in Tuesday's final round to push his final score to 248 and finish in 45th place overall. Huntington finished with rounds of 80, 87 and 81 respectively.
The Mocs will return to the course on May 5-7 as they are expected to receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Super Regional, which will be held at the Savannah Quarters Golf Club in Pooler, Ga. The super regional will feature a total of 20 teams (10 from each region), including automatic qualifiers and eight individuals not on one those 20 teams for selection to the tournament. In the South Region, the SSC, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Gulf South Conference each award an automatic bid to their conference tournament champion. The top seven teams and top two individuals not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the Division II National Championships on May 19-23 at the Meadows Golf Course in Allendale, Mich.
