Spartans Set for Invitational at the Ocean Course
10/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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Spartanburg, S.C. - Coming off a season-opening team championship at the Rutgers Invitational, the USC Upstate men's golf team will play in arguably its most prestigious tournament to date when it tees off at the Invitational at the Ocean Course Monday morning. The College of Charleston is hosting the event.
The Invitational at the Ocean Course, also named The Blake this year in honor of a friend of the program who recently passed away, not only boasts a strong field, but it will be played on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. The Ocean Course is the future site of the 2012 PGA Championship and former site of the 1991 Ryder Cup and 2007 Senior PGA Championship. The Ocean Course is a par-72 layout which plays at 7,504 yards.
Upstate will join 11 other teams in the tournament which boasts all 12 teams in the top 140 in the latest Golfweek rankings and the top 150 in the latest Golfstat report. Six of the 12 teams are ranked in the top 100 by both Golfweek and Golfstat, including Upstate which is ranked 84th by Golfweek and 92nd by Golfstat. Joining Upstate in the tournament is Alabama-Birmingham (13/14), Charleston Southern (120/123), College of Charleston (106/107), Davidson (124/129), Florida (64/55), Kansas (134/147), Maryland (104/90), Mercer (128/117), Notre Dame (35/31), Richmond (99/101) and South Florida (87/74).
Upstate is coming off a strong showing at the Rutgers Invitational. The Spartans opened the season in the tournament and ran away with the team championship by 21 strokes over St. Peter's. Adam Goins won the individual championship in a playoff over teammate Tyler Comer.
Upstate will look to build on the momentum from the Rutgers win this week at the Ocean Course. Spartan head coach Todd Lawton will send six players to the tournament. The tournament format calls for six players to play for the team with the four-best scores counting toward the team score. Lawton will send the lineup of Adam Goins, Tyler Comer, Matthew Hopper, Brad Sill, Brian Horton and McKenzie Oref into action for the Invitational. All but Oref have played in the Rutgers Invitational, while Oref is making his season debut.
Looking Back at the Rutgers Invitational
When Adam Goins and Tyler Comer stepped to the tee on the first playoff hole to determine the individual championship, the two already knew that they had led the Spartans to the team championship at the Rutgers Invitational. Goins and Comer finished the tournament at 1-under-par to lead Upstate to a 21-stroke win over St. Peter's. Goins claimed the individual championship on the first playoff hole for his second career title. The Spartans placed four players in the top 10 and all five in the top 20 to claim the win in the 16-team tournament. Matthew Hopper and Brad Sill finished in the top 10 and Brian Horton ended up 17th.
Goins Wins Second Individual Title
Armed with time to kill before heading to the airport to fly home from the Rutgers Invitational, Adam Goins and Tyler Comer stepped to the tee for the first playoff hole to determine the individual championship. In the end, Goins won the title after the first hole for the second individual championship of his career. He became the first Spartan to win a title as a freshman when he won the Caribbean Classic last year and now has a second this season as a sophomore. He is one of four Spartans in the history of the program to win multiple individual titles, joining all-time greats Josh Gallman, Baxter Culler and Michael Lawrence.
Comer Ties Single-Round School Record
With a 66 in the final round of the Rutgers Invitational, junior Tyler Comer tied the single-round school record. He is now tied with three other Spartans, Josh Gallman, McKenzie Oref and Matthew Hopper for the lowest round in program history.
Spartans a Deep Squad
There is little doubt that the 2011-12 Spartans are the deepest team head coach Todd Lawton has fielded in the seven years he has coached the team. While past teams boasted marquee names like Josh Gallman and Baxter Culler, this year's team has strong talent up and down the lineup. There may not be a player capable of performing at the level Gallman did, yet, but the entire team is poised to be the strongest in program history. In Upstate's top year playing on the Division I level in 2008-09 with two team and six individual tournament titles, the Spartans owned a 299.8 scoring average. In 2007-08 when the Spartans finished second in the NCAA Division II National Championships, the team posted a 295.5 scoring average. Last year, Upstate finished at 295.8 and the same players opened the 2011-12 season with a 284.7 scoring average.
Dickson Still Waiting on the Word
Though midway through the semester, Upstate and senior Nelson Dickson are waiting on word from the NCAA on an appeal to its initial ruling of eligibility for Dickson. Dickson, a fifth-year senior, played his first year of college athletics in any sport when he suited up for Upstate last year. He began his college career as a student in 2005, but took time off to earn money for his college education. He took up golf and has made tremendous strides as a player. His five-year clock ran out last season, but the school asked for another year of eligibility and was initially turned down. An appeal was sent to the NCAA and Upstate and Dickson are awaiting final word from the NCAA.
