LAKELAND – The words "tough" and "challenging" were heard frequently on Tuesday before, during, and after the final round of the Matlock Collegiate Classic. Even though it wasn't as cold as Monday when the temperature dropped into the 30's before play began, there was still enough wind to pose some problems, and the wind-chill left everyone feeling a little uncomfortable by the end of the day. The #2-ranked Saint Leo Lions fought through all of that, however, to widen their lead coming into the day and win the Matlock by eight strokes over #4 West Florida and #6 Barry.
Saint Leo, which had never finished higher than sixth in its previous four appearances in the Matlock, had at least a share of the lead at the end of every round. The Lions opened with a 283 on Monday, which tied them with Barry at that point, before shooting a 294 in the second round to take a 2-stroke lead over #3-ranked Nova Southeastern, with Barry dropping into third. Tuesday saw the Lions put up a 292, while Nova had a 300, and Barry a 297. None of those schools though shot better than West Florida, which had an impressive 289, the best for any team over the final two rounds when the weather really turned sour.
Saint Leo also had the individual champion in senior Liam Ainsworth, who finished at one-under par 215 for the tournament to edge out Jimmy Jones of Florida Southern, and Hunter O'Mahony and Priyanshu Singh of Nova Southeastern by a single stroke. It was the first time since 2010 the winning school also had the winning individual.
The winning team score of 869 (+5) was the highest in the last four years with weather clearly a factor. The last three champions averaged a -21, the runners-up averaged a -12, and the third-place teams averaged a -2. The Lions had just one of their golfers shoot par or better in the final round (a 71 by Hugo Bernard), and Ainsworth's 75 was still enough to give him the individual trophy. That made him the only golfer in the field to finish the tournament under-par, something that hadn't happened at the Matlock Collegiate Classic since 2006 when Florida Southern's Greg Koch was the only one to do it when the tournament was still played at Grasslands. In fact, only one other golfer in the 35-year history of the tournament (Jaco Rall of Columbus State in 1999) has ever won after shooting a 75 in the final round, another indicator of how the weather played a role in this year's event.
West Florida was able to move into a second-place tie by having two of the seven golfers Tuesday who managed to break par. Barry and Nova had none, which was why the Argonauts caught the Buccaneers with a final score of 877 (+13), and were two shots ahead of the Sharks, who had an 879 (+15).
Florida Southern and Lynn were tied for fifth at 881 (+17), and the Moccasins had another of those under-par golfers with sophomore John VanDerLaan carding a 70. He had five birdies in the round and was only one shot behind the best score of the day, which allowed him to finish in a ninth-place tie overall at three-over par 219. It was VanDerLaan's second top-10 finish of the season.
Jones had his second straight top-five finish with an even-par 216. He had scores of 67, 76, and 73 in the tournament and has now finished tied for third and tied for second in his two appearances at the Matlock Collegiate Classic. He was part of one of the tightest individual finishes ever this year with four golfers within one stroke of the lead. The only other time that happened was 1983, which was the second year of the tournament and a group that featured future PGA Tour members Brad Faxon (Furman) and Chris Perry (Ohio State).
Matching Jones with a 73 on Tuesday was sophomore John Coultas, who was tied for 14th with a 220 (+4). Freshman Palmer Lovell had a 78, and was tied for 41st overall at 229 (+13), and freshman Michael VanDerLaan carded a 77 in the final round to finish 56th with a 232 (+16).
Florida Southern's next tournament will be February 28-29 at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills for the South/Southeast Super Regional Preview hosted by Saint Leo.
