DAVIE, Fla. – After a rain-soaked Monday, Florida Southern men's golf rallied late Tuesday afternoon to capture the teams second win of the season by one stroke at the Shark Invitational at Grande Oaks Golf Club. The Moccasins posted an even par Monday in round one and sat in front after closing round two Tuesday morning with a 286 (+2). The team rallied late in round three to fire a 285 (+1) to finish the 54-hole event at 855 (+3), edging No. 20 Saint Leo (856).
"We battled some extremely tough conditions and a strong field this week," Head Coach
Lee White '12 stated. "I couldn't be prouder of the team for how they responded. This win represents more than the five Mocs that are here, all the student-athletes back home have been working hard to prepare for their opportunity. We're excited for our next event at Innisbrook."
Max Barile and
Donte Groppuso closed the event strong, each jumping 10+ spots on the leaderboard. Barile, a Land O' Lakes, Fla. native, shot up 12 spots to finish tied for second at 211 (-2). In the final round, Barile made four birdies over his last six holes to close the day with a 67 (-4), tying his career-low round as a Moc.
Groppuso, playing in his first tournament as a Moccasin, climbed 10 spots over the final round to finish tied for fourth at 212 (-1). The Kingston, N.Y. native fired off a final round 68 (-3) after sinking five straight birdies to finish the back nine at 4-under.
Barile topped the team in pars with 36 as the Mocs finished with 161 total for the event while Groppuso led the team and field in birdies with 12; the Mocs were the top team in the field with birdies with 44. Florida Southern finished top in the tournament with eagles (3) as
Adam Alvarez,
Bryce Walker, and
Tyler Mistretta each made an eagle over the 54 holes.
Looking to close strong,
Adam Alvarez posted yet another top-10 finish at 215 (+2) after a second round 71 (E) and a final round 74 (+3).
Tyler Mistretta finished in the top-20 at 218 (+5) after a strong second round put him into the 10. Mistretta had a second round 72 (+1) before finish with a 76 (+5).
Bryce Walker rounded out the Moccasins in the field and finished in 59
th place after rounds of 73 (+2) and 81 (+10) Tuesday.
After Monday's 36 holes were cut short due to weather, the Moccasins and the other 15 teams had to play between 28-31 holes Tuesday to wrap up the tournament. No. 20 Saint Leo jumped ahead of Florida Southern in the afternoon Tuesday but were unable to hang on for the win as the Moccasins rallied to edge the Lions by one stroke and the team win, 855 (+3) to 865 (+4). The two teams bested the field by a minimum of 10 strokes with Union in third at 866 (+14) and Lynn in fourth at 868 (+16). Shorter closed the top five teams with a team score of 870 (+18).
Saint Leo's Enzo Barbaglia took home the medalist honors after posting a field-best 66 in the final round of the day to finish at 206 (-7).
The win for Florida Southern marks the first season the Moccasins have captured two team titles since the 2017-18 season when the team won four tournaments.
After its third tournament of the year, Florida Southern now has a pair of head-to-head wins over No. 1 Barry, No. 2 Nova Southeastern, No. 20 Saint Leo, and No. 25 Tampa.
1st – Florida Southern – 284-286-285 – 855 (+3)
T2 –
Max Barile – 70-74-67 – 211 (-2)
T4 –
Donte Groppuso – 74-70-68 – 212 (-1)
T10 –
Adam Alvarez – 70-71-74 – 215 (+2)
T17 –
Tyler Mistretta – 70-72-76 – 218 (+5)
T59 –
Bryce Walker – 74-73-81 – 228 (+15)
Florida Southern will return to the links on Oct. 23-24 at the Copperhead Championship at Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor, hosted by the University of West Florida.
