Junior Parker Claxton shot a bogey-free 68 on the final day to earn runner-up honors at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate, played Saturday and Sunday at the Georgia Southern University Golf Course. Nine of Georgia Southern's 10 student-athletes completed the event with five finishing in the top-20 of the tough, 68-player field that featured players from some several top programs around the country.
Liberty's Michael Lugiano drained a 13-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Sunday to break a tie with Claxton and earn medalist honors.
Claxton finished off a sensational weekend on Sunday with a clean card of 68 (four birdies) after posting a pair of 70s on Saturday in the first two rounds. He recorded 13 birdies for the weekend, tied for the second-most in the field and also had 36 pars. He went -4 on the par 4s, the lowest score in the field. His second-place finish is his highest of the season.
Brantley Baker capped off a strong weekend with a 69 on Sunday to finish with a 216 and tie for 10th place. His 37 pars were tied for the second-most in the field and he played the par 5s at -7, tied for the fifth-best score in the field. Freshman Pierce Adamson started the weekend strong with a team-low 69 in the first round, using seven of his 12 birdies on the weekend, and finished with a 218 to tie for 14th. Also finishing in the top 20 were Brycen Jones (75-71-73) and Ian Glanton (74-71-71), who tied for 18th place. Glanton had 37 pars while Jones had 33 over the three rounds.
Thomas Horne had 11 birdies and Hogan Ingram had 10 birdies and 30 pars while Luke Koenig and Elijah Zamarron both tallied 33 pars.
Words From Coach Carter Collins:
"What a great week for the Eagles at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate. First of all, we are grateful to the Sharkey family for allowing us to continue to name this tournament after Thomas; we miss him dearly. I'm really proud of the individual performances this week by our guys, five of the top 20 and two in the top 10 in a fantastic field. Parker played phenomenal, shooting a bogey-free 68 in the final round to finish solo second. This team is continuing to grow and learn, I cannot wait to see what is around the corner for them."
Georgia Southern will have the next two weeks off before returning to team tournament action Feb. 17 and 18, traveling to Gainesville, Florida, to participate in the Gators Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate - Feb. 1-2
Georgia Southern University Golf Club - Par 72
Statesboro, Ga.
Parker Claxton* - 70-70-68=208 (-8), 2
Brantley Baker* - 72-75-69=216 (E), T10
Pierce Adamson* - 69-76-73=218 (+2), T14
Brycen Jones* - 75-71-73=219 (+3), T18
Ian Glanton* - 74-74-71=219 (+3), T18
Elijah Zamarron* - 71-71-79=79 (+5), T24
Luke Koenig* - 74-74-74=222 (+6), T27
Thomas Horne* - 74-73-78=223 (+7), T31
Hogan Ingram* - 84-71-73=228 (+12), T45
Edouard Cereto* - WD
