Seniors Wilson Andress and Mason Williams each shot a 2-under 70 in the final round, and the Georgia Southern men's golf team won the 42nd playing of the Schenkel Invitational Sunday at Forest Heights Country Club.
The Eagles (-25) won by seven strokes over No. 17 Notre Dame (-18). College of Charleston placed third (-14) behind the play of medalist Kieron van Wyk, a freshman who shot a 12-under 204 to win his first college tournament.
All five Eagles in the lineup shot par or better today. Brantley Baker carded a 71, while Ben Carr and Hogan Ingram each posted a 72. Williams finished second, Carr finished third, Baker tied for 12th and Ingram tied for 23rd on the individual leaderboard. Colin Bowles led the Georgia Southern individuals with a 70 today, and Luke Dasher posted a 71 to finish 17th at 1-under.
It's the third Schenkel Invitational team title for the Eagles, who won their first in 2014. Georgia Southern has now finished in the top-5 in the last five Schenkel Invitationals and seven of the last eight, and the Eagles have won or finished runner-up three times during the stretch.
Andress made four birdies on the day, including three in a row on holes 12-14, and Baker played the back 9 1-under with birdies on 14 and 18. Williams posted three birdies on the front and finished the tournament with nine consecutive pars. Ingram posted three birdies to shoot 34 on the front 9, and Carr shot 1-under on the front with birdies on 3 and 6.
Georgia Southern led the tournament in pars and par-4 scoring and tied for the lead in par-3 scoring. The Eagles also tied for third with 51 birdies for the week.
Scoring
Team – 273-283-283=839 (-25), 1
Mason Williams – 68-68-70=206 (-10), 2
Ben Carr – 69-67-72=208 (-8), 3
Brantley Baker – 67-75-71=213 (-3), T12
Luke Dasher* - 72-72-71=215 (-1), 17
Hogan Ingram – 69-76-72=217 (+1), T23
Wilson Andress – 76-73-70=219 (+3), T36
Colin Bowles*- 74-77-70=221 (+5), T42
Ian Glanton*- 73-76-79=228 (+12), T72
Lindsey Cordell* - 81-79-71=231 (+15), 78
Jack Boltja* - 74-84-75=233 (+17), T81
*Played as an individual
Quotables from Coach Carter Collins
"This was an incredible victory for this team, this program and Georgia Southern. I'm so proud of the guys for handling all of the challenges as well as they did; it was very impressive. It's a special team."
"We couldn't have done it without with tremendous support from The Schenkel Committee, Forest Heights and the Statesboro community. Special place!"
"I'm so proud of this team, we are grateful for everything and hungry for what's ahead. Hail Southern!"
Quotables from Mason Williams
On walking up 18
"It's a pretty cool experience. I got my first glance at a leaderboard on 12 and saw that we were up seven or eight, but seven or eight is not that big of a lead in golf with four guys counting. It was a pretty cool experience just seeing everybody, and you can kind of hear the energy and feel how we're doing. It was just surreal. Making putts out here and hearing crowds roar and getting high fives walking from tee to green is something you don't really experience in any other tournament."
View final results below:
Next Up
The Eagles are scheduled to compete in The Hayt, hosted by North Florida March 28-29 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
