University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Badger Invitational
Upstate Stands 5th at Badger Invitational
9/30/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Madison, Wisc. – A tight field after the first round remained tight through 36 holes Monday as the USC Upstate men's golf team stands fifth heading into the final round of the Badger Invitational being hosted by Wisconsin at the University Ridge Golf Course.
Upstate entered the day in second place and shot a 300 to stand fifth after 36 holes, just three strokes back of second place in an extremely competitive and tight tournament. South Carolina leads the tournament by 18 strokes and looks to be in solid position to take the team championship with several teams battling for second place. Despite being right there for a runner-up position, Upstate had an unfortunate and costly mistake that caused itself seven strokes on Tuesday's team score.
Ryan Cornfield, who led Upstate by placing second in both of the first two tournaments of the season to lead the Spartans to back-to-back team championships, turned in his scorecard without recording a score on the 10th hole. Neither he, his playing partner, nor head coach Todd Lawton caught the mistake before he turned the card in for scoring. Because of the error, Cornfield's score was thrown out. He had shot 70 in the round, but with his score thrown out, Upstate had to count a 77. Had the Spartans been able to count his score, they would be in second place by four strokes and 14 back of the Gamecocks.
"In all my 16 years of coaching, I have never seen an incomplete scorecard. Let me stress that this is my fault. The tournament did a scoring drop box instead of a table with a rules official and that caused some confusion. Ryan is the consummate player and we made a basic but costly mistake. It is ultimately my responsibility to check the scorecards hole-by-hole before they are turned in and I did not check Ryan's card. Rest assured, we will make sure this never happens again," said Lawton of the mistake.
While Upstate had a score thrown out because of the scoring mistake and the unique rules of the game of golf, the silver lining is that the Spartans will return to the course Tuesday at full strength with all five players battling to be one of four scores turned in for the team score.
The scoring mistake notwithstanding, Upstate is still in a prime position to secure a second place finish and will battle a number of teams for a strong finish. South Carolina leads the tournament with a 36-hole 565 total and leads by 18 strokes over Austin Peay (583) in second. Kansas and Missouri-Kansas City are tied for third at 584 and Upstate is right behind in fifth at 586.
While Upstate is playing well and is in the Top 5, the Spartans have several teams breathing down their necks and while hopeful of moving up on the leaderboard, has to watch the teams coming from behind. Illinois State is sixth, just one shot back of Upstate at 587 and is followed by Wofford (588), Xavier (590), Charleston Southern (592), Rutgers (593), Marquette (594), Wisconsin (602), Northern Illinois (618) and Northern Kentucky (621).
"I am proud of the guys for the fact that they would have posted one of the lowest rounds of the day for the second straight round," said Lawton. "We will work hard Tuesday to again show how well we can play."
Adam Goins led Upstate on Monday and is the top Spartan in the tournament heading into the final round. He shot a 73 Monday and is tied for 11th at 145. Sebastian Lopez Bulla turned in a 76 Monday and owns a 146 total to stand in a tie for 17th. Taylor White shot a 74 in the second round and stands tied for 20th with a 147 total, giving the Spartans three players in the Top 20. Danny Brock carded a 77 in his second round and is tied for 25th with a 148 total.
South Carolina's Caleb Sturgeon shot an even-par 72 and holds the overnight lead heading into the final round. He is 7-under for the tournament and owns a two-stroke lead.
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