University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Coca-Cola/Wofford Invitational
Upstate Rallies For Second At Wofford Invitational
4/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 13, 2010
Spartanburg, S.C. - Throughout the fall and the first part of the spring, the USC Upstate men's golf team couldn't seem to close out tournaments with a strong final round. Heading into next week's A-Sun Championships, the Spartans certainly proved they are capable of posting low numbers in the final round. Upstate posted a 2-under-par 286 Tuesday and leaped over two teams to finish second at the Coca-Cola/Wofford Invitational at the Country Club of Spartanburg.
Upstate began Tuesday's final round in fourth place, two strokes behind host Wofford in third and seven shots behind second-place Charleston Southern. After throwing out a 74 Tuesday, Upstate posted the second-lowest round of the day, a 286, to jump over Wofford and Charleston Southern into second with an 862 total.
"Everyone contributed once again," said Upstate golfer Josh Gallman. "Everyone is capable of going low and we have proven that the past two tournaments. We had it going a lot better than we finished up, but it was good to move up two spots, which is what we wanted to do."
Gallman, a senior from Gaffney, S.C., led the way for Upstate. He recorded his program-best 19th career top five finish after firing a 2-under-par 70 Tuesday and finishing the tournament at 5-under-par. He finished just two strokes back of East Tennessee State's Michael Stewart for medalist honors. Gallman led the tournament in par-3 scoring at 1-under, while ranking fifth in birdies (13), eighth in par-5 scoring (-7) and ninth in pars (33).
East Tennessee State shot 3-under-par 285 on Tuesday to finish the tournament with an 847 total and at 17-under-par. Upstate was second at 2-under 862 and was followed by Wofford (863), Charleston Southern (866), Elon (872), Stetson (874), High Point (885), Presbyterian (886), Samford (887), Winthrop (889), Radford (890), Gardner-Webb (890) and Appalachian State (900).
While Gallman led Upstate throughout the tournament, he was not alone as all of his Spartan teammates assisted in the team effort. Matthew Hopper, who's previous top finish was a tie for 36th, shot 1-over-par 73 Tuesday and finished tied for 11th in the tournament with a 217 total.
Michael Lawrence posted a solid round of 72 on Tuesday and finished tied for 24th with a 220 total. Nate Irvin shot 1-under 71 on Tuesday and finished with a 222 total, while Brian Horton shot a solid 74 and finished with a 226 total. Bryan Otis, playing as an individual, carded a 78 in the final round and a tournament total of 234.
Upstate will use the Wofford Invitational as momentum leading into next week's A-Sun Championships at Chateau Elan in Georgia. The Spartans will make their second appearance in the conference championships as seniors Gallman and Lawrence will play their next to last collegiate tournaments.
"I'm not quite there but I am close," said Gallman. "I keep making a couple of bad mental mistakes every round which keeps me from shooting better scores. All in all, I am hitting the ball decent, putting decent and scrambling pretty well. I would like to win an individual championship in the conference tournament, but more importantly, I want the team to win it. College golf is a team sport and it would be nice to go out with a team championship."
