Upstate Ready for Challenge at This Week's A-Sun Championships
4/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's golf team is set to battle for the A-Sun Conference championship and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals when it tees off Sunday in the first of three rounds of the A-Sun Championships played on the par-72, 7,032-yard Legends Course at the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Ga.
Sunday's action begins at 8:30 a.m. with all seven teams teeing off. The 54-hole championship will conclude on Tuesday, April 19.
"I am excited about where we are as a team heading into the conference championship," said head coach Todd Lawton. "Ryan is playing his best golf, and so are Taylor and Sebastian. Their efforts have really given us the solid base we needed to be successful. Trey and Tom have done a fantastic job contributing in the 4-5 spots and that is a big key to a team's success."
Upstate is coming off a strong effort in the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational that wrapped up last Tuesday. The Spartans finished in a tie for fourth at 5-under 859 with No. 47 Charleston Southern. The Spartans shot their lowest round of the season on Monday with a 279 in the first round. They hope to carry that momentum into action this week at the A-Sun Championships in hopes of improving on its best-ever finish of fourth place last season.
Ryan Cornfield was the named the A-Sun Men's Golfer of the Week on Thursday, his second honor this season, after leading Upstate individually at the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational tying for sixth place. Cornfield posted his second straight top-10 performance of the season after shooting a 5-under 211 (67-74-70) for his second-best showing of the year. He concluded the tournament third among all players in par-4 scoring at 4-under with a scoring average of 3.87. His 15 total birdies were tied for third-most in the event.
Cornfield posted a low round of 66 at last season's A-Sun Men's Golf Championships and tied him for the second-best score in A-Sun third round history. He is shooting a career-best 71.33 entering the tournament. The Spartans feature three players with a stroke average under 75.00. After Cornfield, Taylor White is second on the team at 74.17, while Sebastian Lopez Bulla is shooting 74.46.
"Our conference is incredibly strong in men's golf and that will make this weekend eventful itself," Lawton added. "Opportunities are all we can ask for when playing against great competition. We will be prepared and try to stay loose and focused on the course."
Heading into its final event of the spring, Upstate sits 137th in the latest Golfweek ranking and 147th according to Golfstat.
Lawton will send a five-player lineup of Cornfield, White, Lopez Bulla, Tom Schofield and Trey Taylor into action at the A-Sun Championships.
Live results of the 2016 A-Sun Men's Golf Championships can be viewed at www.golfstat.com.
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