rss
mobile
Feeds
Savannah College of Art and Design delivered that and more Monday and Tuesday, posting a 54-hole score of 1-over-par 853 to coast to a 20-shot victory in the Wilmington Island Club Intercollegiate. The Bees' record-breaking total gave them a 20-shot edge over defending champion USC Beaufort, which moved ahead of Johnson and Wales in Tuesday's final round to finish second.
"I think we played very well," USCB coach Shane LeBaron said. "I think -- well, I don't think, I know -- we ran into a buzzsaw. SCAD played phenomenal."
Indeed, led by individual champion Loren Bunting and runner-up Tom Hayes, the Bees blew away a strong field that included three of the top 11 teams in the most recent Golf World/Nike NAIA Coaches Poll. SCAD's victory was never in doubt Tuesday, as the Bees took a 16-shot advantage into the final round after setting tournament and school records with a 36-hole score of 6-under 562 on Monday.
"(Monday) was a special day," SCAD coach Fred Fruisen said. "It's a day you don't get often as a coach, and you're really happy it happens on a day when there's 36 holes to play."
The 11th-ranked Bees' hot start left little chance of USCB successfully defending its title -- the Sand Sharks started the day 19 shots behind SCAD -- but the Sand Sharks were good enough on a cool, damp Tuesday to move up one spot. Led by Jack Bingham's 1-under-par 70, sixth-ranked USCB jumped over No. 3 Johnson and Wales and held off charging Northwood for second.
Jon Pannone, the Sand Sharks' most consistent player this fall, made the all-tournament team by finishing fifth at 3-over par. He started the day three shots behind SCAD's Bunting and Northwood's Brett McCurdy Jr., but a balky putter kept him from mounting a charge.
"The first two rounds, I made a bunch of putts," Pannone said. "Today, I hit it all right, and I stayed pretty positive, but the putts didn't fall. I made a double (bogey) early on, and I played too much match play with Loren. I realized I was six down after five holes, and I started trying to flag everything, and the pins weren't really out there to go after."
SCAD's victory marks the first time it has won its own tournament, and it also seemingly gives the Bees a slight leg up in the Sun Conference race as the fall season wraps up. The first official NAIA rankings of the season are due out Dec. 3 (conference) and Dec. 4 (top 25), and Fruisen figures his team bolstered its resume in its fall finale.
"We knew the rankings would be coming out very soon," Fruisen said. "We knew if we got the hay in the barn here, then we can really enjoy our holiday season. Our ranking will be nice and high, and life will be good for the Bees."
The runner-up finish also wraps up the fall season for the Sand Sharks, who also finished second at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and third at the Flagler Fall Invitational. Despite a solid fall and a top-10 ranking, though, LeBaron says his team has to make strides in order to compete for a national championship.
"People who win expect to win," LeBaron said. "Great champions go into something and they expect to be great. We have a confidence issue, and that needs to end. They need to believe that they can win and that they're going to win. If we can fix that confidence issue, I think it's going to equate to lower scores."
TEAM STANDINGS
Savannah College of Art and Design 286-276-291--853; USC Beaufort 294-287-292--873; Northwood 303-288-287--878; Johnson and Wales 293-285-304--882; St. Thomas 303-293-297--893; Mobile 297-298-304--899; Southeastern 302-300-309--911; Webber International 310-305-296--911; Embry-Riddle 303-296-320--919; Thomas 312-296-317--925; Southern Wesleyan 322-304-316--942; Warner 315-322-334--971.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
1. Loren Bunting (SCAD) 72-65-71--208; 2. Tom Hayes (SCAD) 68-71-70--209; 3. Brett McCurdy Jr. (Northwood) 70-67-73--210; 4. Esteban Aristizabal (St. Thomas) 74-71-69--214; 5. Jon Pannone (USCB) 71-69-76--216.
USCB INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
5. Jon Pannone 71-69-76--216; T14. Reed Howard 72-70-78--220; T14. George Thacker 74-74-72--220; 17. Jack Bingham 77-74-70--221; T38. Chris Lane II 78-83-74--235; T49. Travis Cashion 81-75-82--238.
