University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
ODU/Seascape Intercollegiate
Gallman, Lawrence 10th At ODU/Seascape
10/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 26, 2009
Kill Devil Hill, N.C. - On a cold, wet and blustery day, USC Upstate golfers Josh Gallman and Michael Lawrence both shot 75 and stand tied for 10th heading into Tuesday's final round at the ODU/Seascape Intercollegiate.
Playing on the coast of North Carolina in steady 15-20 mph winds with gusts to 30 mph, Upstate and the other tournament teams were battle-tested throughout the day. In the end, the Spartans turned in a 310 score that head coach Todd Lawton thought would put the team near the end of the field. Instead, Upstate is eighth in the 14-team field and just 12 strokes off the lead held by Old Dominion.
"The weather conditions were brutal, just brutal," said Lawton. "It was just really hard to judge your shots because of the wind. We lost it in a couple of places where we shouldn't have which prevented us from being closer to Old Dominion. But, it was windy and the gusts would just throw you off.
"I am disappointed that we didn't play better, and I think all of the players are, too. We are capable of shooting better and we just weren't there. We had a couple of bad holes that prevented us from going lower. While I didn't see a lot of 72's, 73's or 74's on the board, our third, fourth and fifth players could have shot better. But, we are fortunate for being within a few shots of a really strong finish even though we didn't play our best. We had some really good conversations after the round about what we need to do to finish strong and I am anxious to see how the guys respond tomorrow."
Lawrence, a senior from Easley, S.C., was solid throughout the day and is one of the leaders in the tournament with 14 pars in the round. He carded a 75 to tie Gallman for the low round on the team and 10th place individually. Gallman had one bad hole and was steady throughout the rest of the round to shoot 75. The two were the only Spartans to break 80 on the day. McKenzie Oref and Tyler Comer each shot 80 in the tough conditions, while Brian Horton added an 86.
Despite what Lawton believed to be high scores on the day, Upstate was not the only team to feel the wrath of the weather conditions. Only Old Dominion broke 300 after finishing with a 298. George Washington stands second at 300 and is followed by Longwood (304), Penn (305), Towson (307), Temple (308), George Mason (309), Upstate (310), Hartford (310), Elon (312), Radford (313), Delaware (315), Drexel (320) and St. Joseph's (324).
Part of the reason Old Dominion was able to shoot 298 on the day was the play of Eric Onesi. He carded a 1-under-par 69 to take the individual lead by four strokes. Gallman and Lawrence trail Onesi by six strokes, but are just two shots out of second place.
