On Tuesday, the KSU men’s golf team started the final round of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships just one shot off the lead. The Owls played well early on and were in the thick of it through the first nine holes. However, the team had their share of struggles on the backside of The Legends at Chateau Elan course.
“I told the guys to just go out and play with confidence and that they’re good enough to play well out here and that’s what I think we saw on the back nine,” said KSU head coach Jay Moseley. “The guys just played fearless golf and played the way I know they’re capable of and they believe in themselves.”
The team’s struggles knocked them out of claiming their second A-Sun conference tournament title. KSU shot a finishing round of 18 over par 306 to close out 54 hole championship contest with a 33 over par 897 and a third place finish overall.
The seventeenth ranked North Florida team captured their second straight conference championship, finishing the tournament with a 17 over par total of 881 and 14 shots better than East Tennessee State (881). M.J. Maguire turned in a 4-under par performance for the Ospreys which was the low round of the day. As a team they were 3-over par 291, which distanced them from the rest of the teams in the tournament.
M.J. Maguire’s third round showing allowed him to be an individual medalist with a 1-under total of 215. Maguire shot two shots better than ETSU’s Rhys Pugh who finished the tournament at 1-over 217.
KSU sophomore Austin Vick was the tournament leader after the first two days and nine holes on Tuesday, ultimately finishing eighth with an 8-over par 224 total. He began the backside of the course with a nine on the par 5 10th hole and shot a 9-over par 45 in his final nine holes to record an 81.
KSU sophomore Jonathan Klotz shot a third round 2-over par 74 to lead the Owls. Klotz finished tied for 25th with a 17-over total for a score of 223. Both Jimmy Beck and Peter Lunde Hermansson shot 5-over par 77s to tie for 13th with 12-over par totals of 228. KSU senior Ben Greene tied for 16th in the tournament with a 13- over par 229. The Owls will now wait for the NCAA Championship field to be announced on May 6 at 9 p.m. The tournament begins with six regionals scheduled for May 16-18, with selected sites located in Baton Rouge, La. (LSU), Tallahassee, Fla. (Florida State), Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State), Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas), Pullman, Wash. (Washington State) and Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State). The NCAA Championships are set for May 28 – June 2 at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta, with Georgia Tech serving as the host school.
