University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Springhill Suites Intercollegiate
Gallman Claims Top 10 Finish At Springhill Suites Intercollegiate
9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 15, 2009
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Florence, S.C. - Josh Gallman continued his run of strong tournament outings after finishing in a tie for ninth-place at the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate at the Country Club of South Carolina Tuesday afternoon.
Gallman, a senior from Gaffney, S.C., finished the tournament with a 3-under-par 213 total. He finished in a tie for ninth, increasing his school record career total to 25 top 10 finishes.
While Gallman collected a top 10 finish, the day was not what any of the Spartans or head coach Todd Lawton had wanted. Upstate entered the day in seventh place, just three strokes out of fifth place and eight out of a top three finish. Gallman entered the day tied for second and just two shots out of the lead. Upstate, though, struggled to shoot a 300 and Gallman was not immune, carding a 75 in the final round to slip to a tie for ninth.
Playing with Georgia College & State University, the nation's No. 1 team in NCAA Division II, Upstate fell behind early in all five spots on the course. Despite playing well on the back nine, the Spartans were not able to hold their ground and slipped to 11th in the 16-team tournament. The players were broken up in the traditional team formats with players playing with players from other teams, unlike the first day when all team players played in the same group.
"After getting off to such a good start both at Rutgers and in the first two rounds of this tournament, it was disappointing," said Lawton. "Our players put in a lot of work on the golf course and were ready to play. But, we didn't execute on key shots early in the round and putts that were falling the day before didn't today. I am proud that we had a very strong finish as opposed to the start, but it wasn't enough to maintain our position in a quality field.
"What ended up being a team-building format in day one proved to be an adjustment that we had a difficult time making today. There seemed to be a need for affirmation which was there yesterday, but wasn't there today."
Georgia Southern rallied to shoot a 282 on Tuesday and claimed the team championship with a 54-hole total of 847. Western Carolina was second at 849 and was followed by USC Aiken (852), Furman (861), James Madison (865), Elon (865), Georgia College & State University (865), Charleston Southern (865), Appalachian State (867), College of Charleston (869), Upstate (873), Francis Marion (876), Davidson (880), Radford (881), Presbyterian (881) and Samford (885).
Michael Lawrence was solid throughout the day and finished the round with a 1-over-par 73 to lead Upstate. He finished the tournament tied for 30th at 1-over-par, having turned in two straight solid rounds with 69 and 73 in his final two trips around the course. McKenzie Oref turned in a solid tournament as well. He entered the day at 2-under for the tournament and carded a 76 to finish in a tie for 38th at 2-over-par 218. Tyler Comer started the day in a tie for 68th and ended the day in the same position after turning in a 76, while Bryan Otis finished with a 231 total and a 78 on Tuesday.
Elon's Jayson Judy and Appalachian State's Casey Johnson tied for the individual championship. Judy shot a 2-under-par 70 Tuesday to claim the individual championship with a 9-under-par total. He finished all three rounds under par after carding 70, 69 and 70. Johnson also posted three under-par rounds, turning in scores of 69, 67 and 71 to finish at 9-under.
