Mark McIntire, Coach of the College of Charleston Golf Team, an Austin native and winner of several local golf titles, has passed on this press release concerning the results of the Schenkel Invitational Golf Tournament.
STATESBORO, Ga. – Senior Alex Ellis (Austin, Texas) shot one under par over 54 holes to lead the College of Charleston men’s golf team to a sixth-place finish at the 35th Annual Schenkel Invitational held at the par-72, Forest Heights Country Club.
Aside from host and tournament champion Georgia Southern (-14), the Cougars were the only other unranked team to finish among the top half of the pack. Paired with the Eagles and No. 14-ranked UAB in the final round, CofC carded a three-round score of 869 (+5) one stroke out of a three-way tie for fourth with No. 10 Virginia and No. 15 Texas (+4).
“Overall, this was a solid week for our guys,” CofC Head Coach Mark McEntire said. “Today was not our ideal start, but we played really good golf in the middle of the round. It rained the last eight holes making our holes coming in very difficult, which caused some dropped shots.
“It would have been great to get wins against Texas and UVA, but we will learn from our mistakes and continue to get better each week. It was still an exciting day to play in the last group of an amazing tournament and we will take the positives from the week as a whole.”
The average score in the final round was 75.23 as the 15-team field tried to beat out the impending rain. Ellis shot 2-over on Sunday after back-to-back under-par rounds of 70 and 71. It marked his second top-10 finish of the season.
Sophomore John Jonas (Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior Zach Munroe (Charlotte, N.C.) finished at even-par for the tournament which put them in a respectable tie for 15th. Both shot a 68 and 69 respectively in the second round to put CofC in contention on the final day.
“I am extremely proud of (Alex) Ellis, (Zach) Munroe and (John) Jonas who all finished in the top 20,” McEntire said. “The three of them really showed their class this week and their play continues to impress me.”
The Cougars will have another shot against the nation’s best at The Hootie to be held on March 23-25 at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.
“This weekend’s tournament results will move us up in the rankings, which was our main goal on this trip,” McEntire said. “It will also give us momentum going into another big tournament next weekend at The Hootie against another stout field.”
35TH ANNUAL SCHENKEL INVITATIONAL
March 14-16, 2014 Forest Heights Country Club (Par 72, 6,962 yards) at Statesboro, Ga.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Georgia Southern – 286-276-288—850 (-14)
2. (#14) UAB – 285-281-292—858 (-6)
3. (#6) UCF – 294-279-289—862 (-2)
T4. (#10) Virginia – 290-285-293—868 (+4)
T4. (#15) Texas – 290-283-295—868 (+4)
6. (# 100) College of Charleston – 290-277-302—869 (+5)
7. (#56)Georgia State – 301-273-297—871 (+7)
8. (#74)Mississippi – 290-293-292—875 (+11)
9. (#47)North Florida – 291-278-307—876 (+12)
10.(#78) North Carolina State – 292-293-296—881 (+17)
11. (#28) Kentucky – 294-292-296—882 (+18)
12. (# 82)Duke – 297-294-295—886 (+22)
13. (#72)Florida – 297-293-300—890 (+26)
14. (#64)North Texas – 309-296-293—898 (+34)
15. (#140) Maryland – 299-303-302—904 (+40)
FINAL COFC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T10. Alex Ellis – 70-71-74—215 (-1)
T15. John Jonas – 72-68-76—216 (E)
T15. Zach Munroe – 73-69-74—216 (E)
T40. Josh Lorenzetti – 75-69-78—222 (+6)
T77. Matthew Mahle – 77-75-78—230 (+14)
89. William Rainey* 75-81-83—239 (+23)
*competing as an individual
