University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Sea Best Seafood Invitational
Upstate Bests Five Top 100 Teams with 5th-Place Finish at Sea Best Invitational
2/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – When the Sea Best Seafood Invitational began on the PLAYERS Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass Monday morning, USC Upstate found itself in a field with nine teams ranked in the Top 100 in the nation. By the end of Tuesday's final round, the Spartans, entering the tournament ranked No. 105, finished ahead of five of those schools with a fifth-place finish.
Upstate shot a 310 on Tuesday and finished the tournament with a 915 total. The Spartans claimed a better finish than Top 100 programs ETSU (56th), Winthrop (59th), East Carolina (67th), Florida (81st) and Florida Gulf Coast (89th). They also finished ahead of three of the other four A-Sun schools in the field including aforementioned ETSU and FGCU as well as host Jacksonville.
"That was a historical tournament for us," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "When you play a team like Florida head-to-head and beat them…that says something. We accepted the role of being the underdog, but our guys went out and played a very difficult course and came through."
Upstate made history in the tournament on several fronts. The Spartans claimed their first-ever win over an SEC team with its finish one spot ahead of Florida. It also marked the first time Upstate has finished in front of ETSU, one of the top programs in the country and an A-Sun rival. The 915 turned in was the lowest 54-hole score for the Spartans in four appearances in the tournament, topping the 933 recorded in last year's tournament.
Monday's second round was halted due to darkness with all of the teams left on the course and needing to finish two or three holes Tuesday morning. Upstate entered the day in fifth place and picked up a couple birdies coming in to finish the second round with a 303 and in fifth place. The Spartans were paired with Texas A&M and Florida in the final round and held their own, and their fifth-place position, by the end of the day.
North Florida, the fifth A-Sun team in the tournament, tied Liberty at the top of the leaderboard at the end of regulation play with an 886 total. However, Liberty was declared the team champion because it shot a lower round in the final round, a 297 compared to UNF's 304. UNF entered the tournament ranked 85th, while Liberty was one of three teams in the Top 50 in the field, entering the event ranked 37th. Texas A&M, ranked ninth in the nation, was third with a 900 total and was followed by No. 48 Tennessee (904), Upstate (915), Florida (918), East Carolina (919), Winthrop (924), Jacksonville (927), ETSU (927), Florida Gulf Coast (931), Cal Poly (932), Jacksonville State (934), Pepperdine (935), Florida Atlantic (950) and Old Dominion (958).
Adam Goins was simply solid on the day for Upstate. He played the front nine at even par and the back nine in 2-over to finish with a 74 to lead the Spartan cause. His 225 tournament total was good enough for a tie for 13th as the top Spartan in the tournament. Taylor White capped a tremendous tournament with a 79 on Tuesday to finish tied for 16th with a 226 total. He posted two birdies on the day.
"Adam played his heart out the last two rounds," said Lawton. "Taylor went after every shot with conviction and played a great tournament. It was a great showing."
Ryan Cornfield shot a 78 on Tuesday, the second best score of the day for Upstate, and made par on 12-straight holes to highlight his round. He finished the tournament with a 232 total and in a tie for 38th. Sebastian Lopez Bulla tied Cornfield with a 232 total after shooting 79 Tuesday to give the Spartans four players in the Top 40 in the field. Danny Brock finished the tournament with a 250 total.
North Florida's Austin Padova and Texas A&M's Greg Yates tied for medalist honors in the tournament.
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