Daufuskie Island, S.C. - With the top 10 teams separated by just 25 strokes, the Georgia State men's golf team finished seventh on Tuesday at the fourth annual Rees Jones Collegiate Invitational. Senior Clemens Dvorak and sophomore Tyler Gruca paced the Panthers with top 15 finishes.
With tough and windy conditions coming into play once again, the Panthers shot a final round 308 to finish at 47-over, just 17 strokes behind the eventual champion. Only two teams broke 300 on the final day of competition, with the field averaging 77.24 strokes per round.
Dvorak, playing in his second tournament as a Panther, shot a final round 76 to tie for 12th at 8-over par. Gruca was just one stroke back at 9-over, finishing tied for 15th with a final round 77.
"Our team continued to fight today and I am proud of that," commented head coach Joe Inman. "It is rare that you see a field finish this tight together. It shows how close some of the top competition is and what can happen any week.
"Tyler and Clemens are really coming along and I will continue to expect big things from them this year. I look forward to the team getting back on the course in two weeks when we host the inaugural AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic."
Freshman Davin White, also playing in just his second collegiate event shot this third straight 77 to finished tied for 33rd with teammate Grant Cagle. Making his season debut, Cagle shot a final round 78.
Redshirt-senior Jared Cagle rounded out the Panthers line-up with a final round 81 to finish tied for 53rd.
Kennesaw State, which shot the best round of the day, won the event for the second year in a row. A final round 289 leaped them five spots in the standings and four strokes ahead of host South Carolina. Wake Forest and second round leader Iowa State finished tied for third, just six strokes back, followed by Liberty in fifth, just 12 off the lead.
Iowa State's Nate McCoy ran away from the field for a nine-stroke victory. With a final round 72, McCoy finished ahead of Kennesaw State's Ben Greene who finished 3-over par. South Carolina's Sean Kelly finished alone in third at 4-over. A trio of golfers finished tied for fourth at 5-over par, including Wake Forest's Lee Bedford, Charleston Southern's David Denlinger and South Florida's Trey Valentine.
This marks the Panthers third appearance in four years to the private island. State has had a great deal of success in its two previous trips, finishing second in the inaugural event in 2008, followed by a sixth place finish in 2009. Both times the Panthers had an individual golfer finish in the top five as Tobias Rosendahl finished third in 2008 and Tom Sherreard finished fourth in 2009.
Georgia State will return to the course on Oct. 17-18 for the inaugural AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic, hosted by Georgia State and Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth, Ga. The Panthers will host a College-Am on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. Fans interested can contact the golf office for more information.
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