Aiken, S.C. – Led by sophomore J.J. Grey's final round 2-under 68, the Georgia State men's golf team shot a final-round 9-over 289 to finish fourth at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate at Palmetto Golf Club Tuesday. Grey finished tied for tied for ninth as four Panthers finished among the top-30.
For Grey, it was his second top-10 finish of the spring. After back-to-back rounds of 74 on Monday, the 2-under par round was among the best in the field on Tuesday.
Georgia State entered the week ranked No. 54 in the latest Golfweek rankings and the only three teams the Panthers finished behind were all ranked in the top-25.
“This is a very good result for us,” head coach Joe Inman said. “Obviously, you always want to win, but we were able to compete and beat a lot of very good teams this week and hang with some top-25 teams which is our goal of where we want to get to. It was great to see J.J. put together another solid result. We just need to keep working to get everyone peaking come April and May.”
Junior Davin White finished tied for 14th at 7-over par following a final-round 2-over 72. It was White's fourth top-25 finish in seven events this year.
Junior Damon Stephenson shot a final-round 75 to finish tied for 23rd at 10-over par. Stephenson has finished in the top-25 in each of the last five tournaments.
Freshman Nathan Mallonee finished tied for 28th following a final-round 74, giving the first-year player his best finish of the spring.
Senior Tyler Gruca rounded out the Panthers line-up with a 77 on Tuesday to finish tied for 52nd at 17-over par.
No. 27 Clemson shot a final-round 3-over 283 to earn a two-stroke win over ACC-foe Virginia. The Tigers finished the 54-hole event at 14-over, while Virginia, ranked No. 11 in the nation was 16-over. No. 25 South Carolina finished third at 27-over, followed by the Panthers in fourth at 34-over. Chattanooga finished fifth at 35-over, with GRU-Augusta and host USC-Aiken just one-stroke behind at 36-over.
Clemson's Austin Langdale finished at even-par after a final-round 72 to earn low medalist honors. Virginia's Derek Bard finished second at 1-over, with Liberty's Niklas Lindstrom in third at 2-over. Virginia's Denny McCarthy finished fourth at 3-over, while trio of golfers including Chattanooga's Chris Robb, Liberty's Mathieu Fenasse and South Carolina's Will Starke finishing fifth at 4-over.
Georgia State will return to the course on Friday for the Schenkel Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern at Forest Heights Country Club.
