Spartans Runners-Up for National Championship
7/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 25, 2007
Allendale, Mich. - Entering the final round of the 2007 NCAA Division II National Championships, the 10th-ranked USC Upstate men's golf team knew it had to put together a tremendous round of golf to win the national championship. All Upstate did was tie the tournament team low round with a five-over-par 289 to finish second to Barry as runner-up for the national championship.
Upstate finished the tournament with a four-round 296-297-305-289=1187 total. Barry finished at 289-297-304-296=1186. Florida Southern, winners of 11 national championships and carrying a No. 1 national ranking, finished third with a 299-292-305-292=1188 total. Upstate was one of four Peach Belt Conference schools competing in the National Championships. Columbus State finished fourth, Georgia College & State University finished tied for sixth, and Lander finished 14th.
"I couldn't be prouder of the guys, what they have accomplished, and how hard they worked this season," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "The look on their faces after losing the national championship by one stroke says it all about the team this year. They were disappointed."
Upstate, which is in just its second season of competition after a 14-year hiatus when the program was discontinued after the 1990-91 season, has tied the men's soccer program with the best NCAA Tournament finish in school history. The men's soccer team finished second in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 1998. The men's golf team, though, has pulled off the accomplishment in just its second year of play, fielding a team consisting of all freshmen and sophomores with just one upperclassman. The five individuals playing for Upstate in the National Championships consisted of three sophomores, one freshman, and one upperclassman.
Starting the day in fourth place, Upstate looked like it would settle for a finish anywhere from third to sixth. However, the Spartans put aside some early troubles and got a much-needed boost from Baxter Culler and Josh Gallman. Culler, who won the individual title at the Peach Belt Conference Championships last month, put together his best round of the tournament, firing a 2-under-par 69 on the day. The sophomore from Hartsville, S.C., who grew up in Myrtle Beach, played both nines 1-under-par and finished the back nine with six straight pars. He finished the tournament tied for 14th with a 77-75-76-69=297 (+13) total.
However, it was the play of freshman Gallman which solidified the second-place showing for the Spartans. After picking up birdie on the ninth hole to shoot 1-under heading into the back nine, the former Gaffney High School standout birdied four holes coming in to shoot the low round of the tournament, a 4-under-par 67. Gallman's heroic effort pushed him into a tie for third place in the individual championship with a 74-75-76-67=292 (+8) total.
"I can't say enough about Josh Gallman's performance," said Lawton. "It's unfortunate that Baxter Culler's 69 was overshadowed, but we give credit where credit is due and Josh was simply amazing. I couldn't be prouder of both of them.
"Don Underwood, an official with The Meadows Golf Club, came up and told me that in his 13 years at the club, he has never seen a more dominant performance on the back nine than what Josh turned in, and the club has hosted U.S. Open qualifiers and, now, two national championships."
The play of Ian Schneider can not be underestimated as well. The only upperclassman on the team, Schneider carded a solid 3-over-par 74 on the day to help the Spartans to the second-place finish. His birdies on the par-5 14th and the par-3 17th were key in Upstate's move up the ladder towards a potential national championship. Schneider finished with a 75-73-77-74=299 (+15) total to finish tied for 21st.
Michael Lawrence and Tyler Tucker both contributed key rounds during the tournament as well. Lawrence finished the tournament tied for 56th with a 75-74-76-83=308 (+24) total, while Tucker, who spurred the Spartans in the first round, finished tied for 70th with a 72-80-81-79=312 (+28) total.
Upstate turned in its 5-over-par 289 and watched as Barry, Florida Southern, and Columbus State had to finish. The Spartans continued to creep up the scoreboard and were just one stroke back of Barry and was tied with Florida Southern with the last group on the 18th hole. Florida Southern's Marc France bogeyed the 18th to drop the Mocs to third place behind the Spartans. Barry's Hernan Borja had to two-putt from 45 feet to win the national championship for the Buccaneers and he left his first putt five feet from the hole. However, he calmly stepped up and nailed the putt to give Barry the national championship and secure the runner-up position for the Spartans.
Columbus State's Christian Ries won the individual national championship with a 1-over-par 73-71-70-71=285 total. He claimed the title by six strokes over Borja. Gallman finished in a tie for third with Columbus State's Andrew Georgiou and Queens University's (N.C.) Iain Hall.
Upstate's second-place finish capped a tremendous season for the Spartans. Culler opened the 2006-07 season by winning the individual championship at the Kiawah Island Invitational against a strong field of nationally-ranked teams. Upstate claimed its first ever team title at the Johnny Palmer Memorial in the team's next tournament. The Spartans turned in a tremendous spring season, finishing no worse than fifth in eight events, including this weeks National Championships. Upstate carded four second-place finishes, the National Championships and the Peach Belt Conference Championships among them, and two third-place efforts. Culler, who led the Peach Belt in stroke average throughout the season, won the individual championship at the Peach Belt Conference Championships for his second individual title of the year.
Team Scores
1. Barry 289-297-304296=1186; 2. USC Upstate 296-297-305-289=1187; 3. Florida Southern 299-292-305-292=1188; 4. Columbus State 302-291-299-297=1189; 5. Washburn 296-306-298-296=1196; T6. Georgia College & State University 304-297-302-298=1201, Belmont Abbey 302-306-300-293=1201; T8. Abilene Christian 306-301-299-296=1202, Cal State Stanislaus 307-296-303-296=1202; 10. Grand Canyon 292-305-315-295=1207; 11. Cal State San Bernardino 300-306-311-296=1213; 12. North Alabama 301-311-306-299=1217; 13. Sonoma State 303-297-317-306=1223; 14. Lander 297-310-317-300=1224; 15. Cameron 298-312-309-308=1227; 16. Florida Gulf Coast 312-319-308-293=1232; 17. Ferris State 304-316-318-307=1245; 18. Fairmont State 307-314-303-323=1247; 19. Western New Mexico 305-316-321-307=1249; 20. Le Moyne 318-310-330-317=1275.
Upstate Individuals
T3. Josh Gallman 74-75-76-67=292 (+8); T14. Baxter Culler 77-75-76-69=297 (+13); T21. Ian Schneider 75-73-77-74=299 (+15); T56. Michael Lawrence 75-74-76-83=308 (+24); T70. Tyler Tucker 72-80-81-79=312 (+28).
