Upstate Set To Tee It Up At The Giustina Memorial
9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 26, 2009
Giustina Memorial Classic Notes
Spartanburg, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's golf team travels across the country to participate in the Giustina Memorial Classic hosted by Oregon State at Trysting Tree Golf Club Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 28-29). The 10-team tournament boasts a unique format in which the men's and women's teams will be paired together throughout the tournament. For example, the No. 1 players on Upstate's men's and women's teams will be paired with the No. 1 players from another school. The tournament marks the third this season for the Spartans as Upstate looks to improve its consistency from round to round. The Spartans opened the season with a strong showing at the Rutgers Invitational, finishing second. However, after two solid rounds at the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate, Upstate faltered in the third round and fell from seventh to 11th in a strong regional field.
Upstate will battle the likes of Boise State, Cal Poly, Hawai'i, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Washington State and Wyoming in the Giustina Memorial Classic. The 54-hole tournament will begin with 36 holes on Monday and finish with 18 holes on Tuesday. Trysting Tree will play at 7,030 yards and is a par-72 trip.
Spartans Set To Use Third New Lineup Of The Season
Strong at the top of the lineup with Josh Gallman and Michael Lawrence leading the team, Upstate head coach Todd Lawton will use his third starting lineup of the season at the Giustina Memorial Classic. Lawton will send McKenzie Oref, Brian Horton and Tyler Comer into action with Gallman and Lawrence with the hopes of improving the team scores throughout the 54-hole tournament. Gallman is a strong 148-8 head-to-head against the competition in his first two tournaments and averages 2-under-par per round. Lawrence is a solid 102-54 head-to-head in his first two tournaments. He has been slow out of the gates in tournaments, but has turned in stunning comebacks to turn in strong rounds for the Spartans this season. The other three players are still inexperienced in tournament play at Upstate. Oref has been surprisingly consistent in his performances early in his freshman season and is a solid No. 3 player in the lineup, just 0.6 strokes behind Lawrence for second-best on the team. Redshirt freshman Tyler Comer has played in the first two tournaments of the season and his confidence continues to build. Brian Horton, in his first season with Upstate after transferring from Gardner-Webb following his freshman season last year, rejoins the fray after missing the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate following his first appearance with the Spartans in the Rutgers Invitational.
Looking Back At The Season-Opening Tournaments
Upstate got off to a strong start of the season with a second-place finish at the Rutgers Invitational. Josh Gallman won his fifth collegiate tournament by besting his closest competitor by six strokes. Upstate entered the final round tied for the team lead, but host Rutgers rallied to win the team championship. It didn't take long for Upstate to return to tournament play, having finished the Rutgers Invitational on Sat., Sept. 12 and starting the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate on Sept. 14. Despite the travel and recuperating from tough rainy conditions at Rutgers, the Spartans turned in a strong performance on day one of the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate, standing seventh in the 16-team field after 36 holes. However, Upstate slipped in the final round and finished 11th. Gallman finished the tournament tied for ninth to lead the Spartans.
Gallman Adds To His Record Numbers
Senior Josh Gallman continued to add to his resume at Upstate with two standout performances to begin the 2009-10 season. He won the season-opening tournament at the Rutgers Invitational, finishing the tournament at 5-under-par to win the championship by six strokes. It marked his program-best fifth career tournament win. With a ninth-place finish at the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate, he now has a program-best 26 top 10 finishes. He also lowered his career stroke average to 72.9, tops in the history of the program.
Oref Proves To Be A Pleasant Surprise
Armed with a personality fit for a court jester, freshman McKenzie Oref has been a pleasant surprise for head coach Todd Lawton early in the season. His consistency on the course and ability to grind hole after hole to bring in a solid score has proven to be valuable for the team early in the year. After averaging a 78 in the Rutgers Invitational, he responded by turning in rounds of 72 and 70 on the first day of the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate. He finished the tournament tied for 38th and lowered his stroke average from 78 entering the tournament to 74.8 following it.
Lawrence A Flare For The Dramatic
Senior Michael Lawrence has a flare for the dramatic, seemingly able to turn up his game when needed the most. He proved just that in the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate two weeks ago. After playing the first 12 holes in his opening round at 5-over-par, he came to the 10th hole, his 13th, looking to turn things around. He birdied the par-4 10th and was quoted as saying, "I'm going to birdie out." He played his next three holes in eagle, birdie and birdie to get back to even for the round. In his second round, he turned in a 3-under-par 69 to move into a top 25 position. He, alone, was 7-under-par on holes 10-13 on the first day of the tournament held at the Country Club of South Carolina.
Playing Out West
Since moving to NCAA Division I play starting the 2007-08 season, Upstate has made the trek across the country twice, playing in California in the spring of 2008 and in Hawai'i last spring. Upstate has had solid results, finishing eighth out of 14 teams at the Lamkin Grips/Cal Poly Intercollegiate in 2007 and sixth out of 11 teams at the Kauai Cup last year.
