06/12/2006
The Georgia State men's golf team had high expectations heading into the 2005-06 season. With a highly talented team the Panthers believed they had a chance at making a run at the NCAA Championships, especially after getting off to a great start in the fall.
The men's golf team recorded eight top-five finishes out of 12 events in 2005-06. The Panthers won two events in record fashion, the prestigious Carpet Capital Collegiate and the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship.
The men's golf program started getting the recognition they deserved after breaking into the top-10 in national rankings during the fall season and being a mainstay there until the end of the season. State finished 12 th nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index with a rating of 71.43.
The Panthers won their fifth conference championship and made their seventh NCAA Regional appearance in the past eight years. State missed the cut for the NCAA Championships by seven strokes, marking their first absence since posting back-to-back appearances in 2004 and 2005 and making their debut in 2000.
In their season-opener the Panthers competed at the TOPY Cup in Fukushima , Japan , which is an annual competition between some of the top American teams and top Japanese teams. Georgia State grabbed the led on the opening day and maintained its top spot following the second round as Japan 's Tohoku Fukushi made a run and tied with State after the second round. On the final day the Panthers couldn't hold off Tohoku Fukushi's late rally in the third-round and finished second at the TOPY Cup with a total score of 871. Freshman Mark Haastrup earned co-medalist honors with Tohoku Fukushi's Yuta Ikeda at three-under-par 213 in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Joel Sjoholm placed third with an even-par 216, while senior Darren Baynes tied for eighth at 219.
Georgia State ended tied for third at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 18, while Haastrup continued to ride his hot streak in finishing tied for second, just one stroke shy of first-place. The Panthers shot rounds of 300, 299, and 291 for an 890 total. Haastrup fired scores of 73, 74, and 69 for an even-par 216. Joining Haastrup in the top-five was senior Steve Tiley who placed fifth at 217 (73-73-71). The Panthers continued with their top-five finishes in the fall season with a fifth-place showing at the Shoal Creek Invitational on Sept. 27. State finished with a three-round total of 870 (288-292-290). Four Panthers finished in the top-25 with three tying for 14th-place, Haastrup, Sjoholm and sophomore Tim Freund at 218. Tiley tied for 25th with a 220.
At one of most highly recognized collegiate golfing events in the country Georgia State topped 11 of the top-25 teams in the country in winning the prestigious Carpet Capital Collegiate on Nov. 6. State, who was ranked 17th at the time, was two-strokes behind No. 5 Florida after round one with an opening score of 284. Sjoholm was in fifth with a three-under-par 69, Tiley was in seventh with a two-under-par 70 and Haastrup was in 12th with a one-under-par 71. The Panthers fired the third-lowest score of the day with a 289 on day two to move into a tie for first-place with No. 1 Georgia with a 573 total. Sjoholm and Haastrup moved into a tie for second-place, trailing Georgia 's Chris Kirk by one stroke at 136. Haastrup fired a career-low five-under-par 67, while Sjoholm shot a three-under-par 69.
On the final day the Panthers kept their cool and battled Florida for the title, carding the second-lowest final round score with a five-under-par 283 to end with an eight-under-par 856 total. The Gators fell one stroke shy to finish second at 857 after shooting the lowest round of the day with a 281.
Haastrup claimed his second individual medalist honors after matching his career-low 67 in the final round to end with a career-low tournament total of 11-under-par 205. The Hoejby, Denmark , native, birded his last hole to secure State's victory and held off a rally by Clemson's David May in topping him for a two-stroke victory. Head coach Matt Clark's squad topped, then ranked, No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 12 South Carolina, No. 18 Auburn, No. 20 Alabama, No. 21 Augusta State, No. 24 Clemson and No. 25 East Tennessee State. State had four golfers finish in the top-25 as Sjoholm ended in a tie for 12th at 216 (69-69-78). Baynes tied for 19th at 219 (74-75-70), while Tiley tied for 22nd with a 220 (70-79-71).
After winning the Carpet Capital Collegiate Georgia State moved into the top-10 rankings for the first time in school history. The Panthers received a No. 4 ranking by Golfstat , marking the program's highest ranking ever. The team moved up to seventh in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and was also recognized as Golfweek's Team-of-the-Week. State received a final ranking of eighth in the GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll . For his sensational fall campaign, Haastrup was named to Golf World's Mid-Season All-Freshmen Team, marking the first mid-season honor for any State golfer.
The Panthers looked to carry their momentum over from their amazing fall season into the spring season as they opened at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate on Feb. 7. State finished fifth with a three-round total of 912 and placed two golfers in the top-15. Tiley paced his team as he ended tied for eighth with a 224 total, while Freund posted his best collegiate finish, tying for 11 th-place with a 226.
At the 29 th Annual SunTrust Gator Invitational the Panthers finished fourth with an 875 total on Feb. 19. Haastrup had the top Panther finish as he placed third with a total score of 211. Sjoholm tied for 21 st-place with a 219 and junior Derek Oakey tied for 29 th at 222. In its home tournament, the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate, Georgia State finished fifth with a three-round tournament score of 858 with two golfers in the top-10. Haastrup ended in a tie for fifth-place with a five-under-par 211 and Sjoholm tied for eighth-place with a four-under-par 212.
The men's golf team became the first to win Georgia State its first CAA title on April 16. The Panthers posted the third largest margin of victory in CAA history with a 22-stroke victory at the Pinehurst Course No. 6 with a total of 871.
With the win, State earned its seventh bid to the NCAA Regionals in the past eight years. Clark 's team recorded their second straight conference title and their second victory of the season as four golfers finished in the top-five. State's four golfers in the top-five matched the CAA record for best individual finishes by a team as all four earned All-Tournament honors.
Haastrup won his third tournament title of the season with a one-stroke victory of 214. Tiley posted his top finish of the season as he ended in third with a 216 total. Sjoholm and junior Ben Taylor tied for fourth-place with a three-round score of 221. Oakey posted a career-best finish, tying for 17 th-place with a 230.
Prior to the start of the CAA Championships, the Panthers earned the league's top honors as Clark garnered CAA Coach-of-the-Year accolades and Haastrup being named the league's top rookie as CAA Freshman-of-the-Year. It marked the second straight year Clark has been named Coach-of-the-Year. Haastrup also was named to the First Team, with Tiley earning Second Team All-CAA honors.
Georgia State made its seventh appearance at the NCAA East Regional in Orlando, Fla. The Panthers knew a top-10 finish would advance them to the NCAA Championships, but the team knew it had a good chance of finishing in one of the top spots. After posting an unusual high round after day one and two, Clark 's team knew they had to play one of their best rounds of golf to make the cut for the Championships, something the team was capable of doing. Despite recording their lowest round of the tournament, the Panthers missed the cut by seven strokes and ended their dreams of making a statement at the NCAA Championships.
State finished 11 th with a three-round tournament score of 891, marking the first time the team missed the NCAA Championships since 2003. State was one of two top-25 teams in the East Regional to miss the NCAA Championships. Haastrup recorded the Panthers top finish as he tied for 26 th-place with a tournament total of 221.
Tiley closed out his two-year spectacular career at State with a 36 th-place finish at 222. Oakey tied for 44 th-place with a 223, while Sjoholm tied for
68 th-place with a 226. Taylor posted a three-round total of 231 in finishing tied for 95 th.
Haastrup, who was one of the top rookies in the country, finished with a national ranking of 16 th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index after hovering near the top-10 for most of the season. Haastrup became the program's first All-American after being named to the PING All-America Second Team. Haastrup was also named to the PING Southeastern All-Region Team, joining Tiley and former golfers Ty Harris and Kasper Jorgensen as members of the All-Region Team and as All-America members (All three were named honorable mention). Haastrup was also selected to represent the European Team at the 2006 Palmer Cup and was named State's Newcomer of the Year at the annual banquet.
The Panthers will lose seniors Steve Tiley and Darren Baynes, but return a quartet who competed in this year's NCAAs. The top returnees include Mark Haastrup, Joel Sjoholm, Derek Oakey and Ben Taylor under the guidance of Coach Matt Clark.
