Augusta, Ga. – Led by sophomore Damon Stephenson's second place finish, Georgia State finished second of four teams at the Jaguar Shootout on Saturday at Forest Hills Country Club. The Panthers added the last minute event looking to increase their chances of receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA Regionals.
Stephenson scored his best performance of the season, shooting 71-73 over the 36 holes to finish at even par, four strokes off the lead. It was Stephenson's second top five finish of the year.
Georgia State opened the day with a morning round of 292 and shot 297 in the afternoon to finish 13-over par, 17 strokes behind Augusta State. The Panthers finished 46 strokes ahead of third place Savannah State and 58 strokes ahead of fourth place Gardner-Webb.
“We trailed Augusta State by just one-stroke after the first round, but they but together an impressive second round on their home course that we were just not able to match,” commented head coach Joe Inman. “I am really proud of the way the guys played. We will now sit and wait to see if we are selected for the postseason.”
Sophomore Davin White rebounded from a first round 78 to shoot 71 in the second round to finish the day at 5-over, tied for seventh place.
Junior Tyler Gruca recorded his second top 10 finish of the week, shooting 74-76 to finish at 6-over and alone in 10th.
Junior Grant Cagle, coming off of a career-best ninth place finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championship, shot 74-77 to finish at 7-over.
Freshman Jonathan Grey got off to a solid start in the morning, shooting 73, before stumbling in the afternoon with an 80 to finish tied for 13th.
Competing as an individual, junior Victor Lavin tied for 11th, shooting 73-78 to finish at 7-over.
Augusta State's Alex Wennstam finished at 4-under earning low medalist honors. Stephenson finished second ahead of Jaguar teammates Maverick Antcliff and Cody Shafer, who each finished at 1-over.
Georgia State will wait to hear if it has made one of the six NCAA Regional sites, which takes place May 16-18. If the Panthers do not advance as a team, it is expected the Jonathan Grey, based on his ranking, will qualify as an individual for the event.
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