LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's golf team went toe-to-toe with the number 1 team in the country, Barry, and cut it very close down the stretch to hang on for a second-place at the Matlock Collegiate Classic at Lone Palm Golf Club.
The Moccasins started the day two strokes off the lead and finished behind No. 1 Barry 847-850. On the cold wet day, FSC fired off a team score of 291 (+3) as the Buccaneers carded a 290 (+2). The Mocs fended off No. 12/14 Nova Southeastern's push by a stroke as the Sharks finished in third with an 851 total. NSU carded the best team score over the final 18 Tuesday at 282 (-6).
A.J. Ewart (Barry) claimed the individual medalist honors after his third consecutive under-par score, 70 (-2) Tuesday on the par-72, 7,090-yard course. Ewart finished the 54-hole event with a 204 (-12), which is fifth all-time in tournament history low final scores.
Florida Southern's
Sam Rogers put the pressure on and turned in the best round of the day despite the conditions on the course. Rogers, a Sebring, Fla. native, carded a five-under 67 to climb 16 spots on the leaderboard. Rogers used five birdies and one eagle on the last 18 to conclude the tournament at 211 (-5).
All five golfers in the lineup for the Moccasins finished inside the top-14 with
Noah Kumar behind Rogers in eighth. Kumar finished with a three-round total of 214 (-2) while the remaining three golfers all tied for 14
th at even-par, 216.
Clay Tucker,
Adam Alvarez, and
Johnny Tucker shot relatively the same score with C. Tucker carding a 74 (+2) while Alvarez and J. Tucker posted 75's (+3).
2nd - Florida Southern, 280-279-291 - 850 (-14)
T3 –
Sam Rogers – 70-74-67 – 211 (-5)
T8 –
Noah Kumar – 69-68-77 – 214 (-2)
T14 –
Clay Tucker – 72-70-74 – 216 (E)
T14 –
Johnny Tucker – 69-72-75 – 216 (E)
T14 –
Adam Alvarez – 72-69-75 – 216 (E)
Up Next
Florida Southern men's golf will take a month off of competitive play before their next tournament on March 7-8 at the Desert Classic hosted by Missouri St. Louis at the Legacy Golf Club.
