Panthers Fall In Quest For National Golf Finals
By Golf // May 10, 2012
Ousted by one stroke
CONOVER, N.C. – Florida Tech narrowly missed forcing a playoff for the final spot in the national championship tournament, placing sixth by one stroke at the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional at Rock Barn Golf & Spa on Wednesday.
Entering the day, the eighth-seeded Panthers were in second place, just one stroke off the leader, Georgia College & State.
As play unfolded in the third and final regional round, the Panthers found themselves hovering around fifth place.
Entering the last five holes, it was evident they were going to need a strong finish to have a chance to qualify.
That opportunity came as Florida Tech needed to sink one birdie on the 18th green.
The putt, however, never fell into the cup, and South Carolina-Aiken was saved from playing a playoff with the Panthers.
Florida Tech concluded the tournament with a 17-over-par 881.
Leading the team was Christian Westhorpe, who tied for 15th out of 108 participants at three-over (219). Patrick Sheedy tied for 28th at six-over (221).
Colin Flabbi matched his second-round 75 in the third round to tie for 38th (223). Brandon Lau accumulated one more stroke than Flabbi overall and tied for 44th (224). Ray Badenhorst carded a 237.
Georgia College & State hung on to win the regional at five-over (869) following a third-round 289. Barry narrowly missed tying the region champion by one stroke (870). Nova Southeastern (872), UNC Pembroke (876) and South Carolina-Aiken (880) placed third through fifth, respectively.
South Carolina-Aiken’s Matt Atkins (210) hoisted the individual trophy by a mere stroke over Georgia Southwestern State’s J.P. Griffin, Georgia College & State’s Taylor Smith and Nova Southeastern’s Ben Taylor. All tied for second at five-under (211).
