University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Charleston Shootout
Horton, Sill Earn Top 20 Finishes at Charleston Shootout
3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Hollywood, S.C. – A pair of area golfers led USC Upstate's effort at the Charleston Shootout as Boiling Springs' Brian Horton and Spartanburg's Brad Sill claimed a tie for 16th individually as the Spartans took home eighth-place in the 15-team men's golf tournament which ended Tuesday at the Links at Stono Ferry.
Horton, a sophomore, began the day tied for fourth, but shot a 78 on Tuesday to finish tied for 16th with four other players, including Sill. Sill, also a sophomore, turned in another consistent performance, shooting 75.
The pair helped Upstate shoot a 308 as only six of the 15 teams in the tournament shot below 300 on the day. The Spartans began the day in sixth place, but the 308 allowed both Stetson and Longwood to jump the Spartans on the leaderboard. Still, the first tournament of the spring season had several bright moments for Upstate, not the least of which was two players recording top 20 finishes.
"Both of them had good tournaments," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "If you look at their finishes over three rounds, it is very respectable. I think both of them would like to have done better in the final round, but it was still good to see two of our players get in the top 20."
Baylor opened the tournament with a 285 on Monday and never trailed, finishing as the tournament champion with a 54-hole total of 856 (-8). College of Charleston was second at 870 and was followed by Radford (879), Campbell (881), Charleston Southern (886), Stetson (888), Longwood (891), Upstate (896), Gardner-Webb (897), High Point (902), Newberry (903), Villanova (906), Presbyterian College (907), Western Kentucky (922) and Navy (930). Upstate finished 10 strokes back of Charleston Southern in fifth place.
"We got off to a slow start and were fighting after the first four or five holes," said Lawton. "We had some opportunities late in the round, but didn't do anything with them. We need to learn to get off to a good start in our final round. We have to get out there and get after it in the first three holes."
In addition to Horton and Sill, Nelson Dickson (Spartanburg, S.C.) had a strong showing. He played in just one tournament in the fall, but finished as the third-lowest Spartan in the Charleston Shootout. He finished tied for 29th after carding a 76 on Tuesday. Matthew Hopper (Gaffney, S.C.) carded a 79 on Tuesday to finish with a 232 total, while Kevin Hentz (Bel Air, Md.), playing in his first collegiate tournament, finished with his second-straight 81.
"Obviously, we have some really good things going on," said Lawton. "We played our sixth different lineup in six tournaments this year. Everyone is getting out there and contributing. We made a lot of birdies in the three rounds. The ball-striking is where it needs to be, but our putting needs to improve as we go forward."
Charleston Southern's Jacobo Pastor finished the tournament with a 3-under-par 69 to finish as the tournament champion with a 7-under total. He won by one stroke over Campbell's Vaita Guillaume.
