ALPHARETTA, GA. - Georgia State senior Joel Sjoholm claimed fourth overall with a final-round score of 68 (-4) in the U.S. Collegiate Championships, while the Georgia State men's golf team claimed eighth overall after a final-round score of 289 (+1) at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta on Wednesday.

Sjoholm, who is ranked fifth nationally by GolfWeek.com, carded six birdies in the third round to post his best score of the tournament at four-under par, as did the 48th-ranked Georgia State men's golf team who posted their fifth-lowest round of the season with a 289 on Golf Club of Georgia's par-72, 7,017-yard Lakeside Course.

En route to his fourth-place finish, Sjoholm defeated 11 players ranked in the national top 25 and 26 from the top 100 to finish with a three-round total of 210 (-6). However, the native of Sweden had his eyes on first.

“I had a good round of golf, but I didn't have as good a score as I wanted,” said Sjoholm, who is currently second in the nation in par-three scoring. “This event was amazing and it's truly a professional caliber event. That said, I wanted to put my mark on this tournament and move into the lead today. I played well enough today to have a chance, but I didn't catch the breaks I had hoped for.”

Georgia State finished with a three-round total of 883 (+19) to defeat three teams from the top 10 and six from the national top 50, including second-ranked Georgia (886, +22), fourth-ranked Charlotte (889, +25) and ninth-ranked Stanford (897, +33).

“We played good golf today and at this event, but we were a few misses away from playing great golf,” said Georgia State coach Matt Clark. “Playing against the best teams in the country and on this course is invaluable preparation for our conference tournament. The guys showed they can hang in their against some great individuals and teams.”

In the event, State faces each of the top seven teams in the nation and only team from outside the top 50 in the 15-team field.

In addition to Sjoholm's strong final round, three Panthers shot a 74 or better in the third round to lead the State to the eighth-lowest round of the day. Sophomore Maurice Jordan carded a third-round score of 73 (+1) to move into a tie for 45th, while sophomore Tom Sherreard and freshman Alex Castro each added 74s (+2) to finish in ties for 28th and 58th respectively. Junior Tim Freund carded a final-round total of 82 (+10) to finish in 74th.

Sherreard had one of State's biggest highlights of the tournament, posting back-to-back eagles in his final round. Sherreard, who teed off from the 10th hole, eagled the par-five 18th hole, before making the turn to eagle the par-five first.

After a drive to the right side of the fairway on 18, Sherreard discussed his option with coach Clark and opted to play aggressive and launched a fairway wood towards the green from nearly 260 yards out. Sherreard's ball sailed to the backside of the green before trickling within three feet of the pin where the native of England would convert the birdie putt.

One group later, Sjoholm was forced to scramble on the 18th after an errant drive hit the cart path and bounced into the brush. After playing out of the vegetation, Sjoholm left his approach shot 15 yards left of the green in pine straw. Playing to a green sloping back-to-front, Sjoholm delivered one of the days most creative shots as he intentionally chipped his ball nearly 10 feet into the rough above the green, where his ball softly rolled down to the green and just missed finding the cup.

“It was a fun shot,” said Sjoholm. “But, I barely missed the hole.”

The Panthers return to action next Friday in the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, the team's last tuneup for the Colonial Athletic Association Championships on April 18.

Check GeorgiaStateSports.com for updates prior to each event.


Georgia State Individual Results:
4 ? Joel Sjoholm, Sr. ? 69-73-68 ?210, -6
T28 ? Tom Sherreard, So. ? 77-71-74 ?222, +6
T58 ? Maurice Jordan, So. ? 78-76-73 ? 227, +11
T24 ? Alex Castro, Fr. ? 74-83-74 ? 231, +15
T66 ? Tim Freund, Jr. ? 81-76-82 ? 239, +23

Team Results: