ORLANDO - Thanks to strong play from sophomore Jimmy Jones, Florida Southern closed out its 2015 fall schedule here Tuesday afternoon by shooting a final round 295 as a team to finish fourth out of 22 teams at the McDonough Cup hosted by Rollins College and held at Rio Pinar Country Club.
Jones, who shot under par in all three rounds of the tournament, fired a three-under par 69 in Tuesday's final round to finish the event with a 7-under par score of 209 to finish in fifth place overall. Jones entered Tuesday's final round in a tie for eighth place. Jones carded rounds of 71, 69 and 69 respectively.
As a team, the sixth-ranked Moccasins, who were one of 11 nationally ranked teams in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Division II Coaches' Poll that competed in the two-day, 54 hole event, finished the tournament with a 9-under 855 score to finish three shots behind third place and fifth-ranked West Florida, who shot a 12-under 852 and finish two shots in front of both third-ranked Saint Leo and 17th-ranked Georgia Southwestern, who both finished tied for fifth place after carding seven-under 857's.
FSC came into play on Tuesday sitting in second place as team after second round play was halted due to darkness on Monday. All 22 teams returned to the course on Tuesday morning and completed the second round, before playing the final 18 holes of the event. After completing the second round, the Mocs were three shots behind second round leader Flagler, who shot a nine-under 279 in the second round to move into first place with a 558 for 36 holes. FSC shot an 8-under 280 in the second round.
In Tuesday's final round, the Mocs four counters finished the round with a six-over 295 to fall two spots down the final leaderboard. Ninth-ranked Lynn shot a 19-under 269 in the final round to climb three spots up the leaderboard and take home the team title by 15 shots over Flagler. Lynn finished the event with a 28-under par team score of 836, while Flagler shot a 13-under 851.
The tournament's individual medalist was decided in a playoff as Lynn's Mateo Gomez defeated Rollins' Emil Sorebo on the second playoff hole. For the tournament, both Gomez and Sorebo shot 10-under par 206 scores. Gomez fired rounds of 70, 69 and 67, while Sorebo had rounds of 64, 66 and 76. Sorebo was the tournament's individual leader after both the first and second rounds.
In the playoff, both golfers birdied the first playoff hole (No. 10), but Gomez birdied the second playoff hole (No. 18), while Sorebo parred the hole to give Gomez the individual medalist honor.
For the tournament, Jones recorded 16 birdies, which was tied for second most at the event. He also had six bogeys and had a triple-bogey 7 on the par 4 No. 2 hole in the second round. In addition, he was second in par 3 scoring at the tournament as he played the course's par 3 holes in an average score of 2.75 (-3).
In addition to Gomez, Sorebo and Jones, the other two individuals to finish in the Top 5 at the event were Lynn's duo of Elliott Whitley and Manuel Torres as they both shot 9-under scores of 207 to finish tied for third place. Whitley carded rounds of 70, 72, 65 and Torres fired rounds of 69, 72 and 66.
FSC was one of 11 teams to finish the tournament shooting under-par, while Jones was one of 29 individuals to shoot under par for the event at the 6,955-yard Rio Pinar Country Club.
Along with Jones, the Mocs No. 2 finisher at the McDonough Cup was sophomore John VanDerLaan (Southbury, Conn.). VanDerLaan, who entered the final round sitting in a tie for third place, shot a four-over 76 in the final round to push his 54 hole score to a 1-under 215, which put him in a tie for 22nd place. VanDerLaan fired a 71 in the first round, shot a 66 in the second round before carding his 76 in the final round. He recorded 12 birdies, 34 pars, three bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey 7 on the par 4 No. 13 in Tuesday's final round on his final tournament scorecard.
The third finisher for the Mocs was sophomore John Coultas (Valrico, Fla.) as he shot a 1-over 216 for 54 holes to finish in a tie for 30th place. After firing rounds of 72 and 70 on Monday, Coultas carded a 2-over 74 in the final round. On his final scorecard, Coultas recorded eight birdies, eight bogeys and had 38 pars for the tournament.
FSC's final counter for the tournament was freshman Christian Anderson (Ocala, Fla.) as he shot a three-over 219 for 54 hole to finish in a tie for 46th place. Anderson opened the event by shooting a five-under 67, before firing back-to-back rounds of 76. After Monday's opening round, Anderson was in a tie for second place after his career low round of 67.
The Mocs other competitor on its team at the tournament was sophomore Grant Lovell (Ocala, Fla.), who shot a 54 hole total of six-over 222 to finish in a tie for 72nd place overall. Lovell opened the tournament with a 74, before shooting a 73 in the second round and carding a final round 75.
FSC also had an individual competing in the tournament as freshman Michael VanDerLaan (Southbury, Conn.) shot a 228 for 54 holes to finish in a tie for 101st place. VanDerLaan opened the tournament by shooting a 74, before firing a 78 in the second round and then rebounding to shoot a 76 in the third and final round.
The Mocs, who are led by Hall of Fame coach Doug Gordin, ended its fall season with Top 5 placements in all four of their events, including tying for third at the AFLAC/Cougar Invitational and finished third overall at the Guy Harvey Invitational held at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. In addition to the four Top 5 team finishes, Coultas had three Top 5 finishes, including winning medalist honors at the Guy Harvey Invitational, while Jones and John VanDerLaan each had a Top 5 placement during the fall season as Jones was fifth at the McDonough Cup and VanDerLaan tied for fifth at the season opening AFLAC/Cougar Invitational.
