Mercer University
Frito Lay Intercollegiate
Men's Golf Wins Frito Lay/AT&T Intercollegiate by 15 Strokes
2/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
CHOCTAW, Miss. – Mercer junior Josh Cone shot a tournament low 69 en route to the individual title at the Frito Lay/AT&T Intercollegiate on Monday. Mercer also locked up first place in the team standings after posting a cumulative score of 295 in the final round.
Mercer's two-round total of 590 (+14) outpaced the nearest team, Bethune-Cookman, by 15 strokes. Nicholls State (614), Jackson State (617) and Southern Illinois (618) rounded out the top five teams.
"We got off to a shaky start and I'm so proud of how the guys battled back at the end," Mercer head coach Andrew Tredway said. "I'm so proud of Cone today. That's a big win for him and should be a great confidence builder for the future. He's really starting to come into his own as a player."
The team title marked Tredway's first tournament championship as head coach of the Bears.
Cone's three-under 69 was the junior's best 18-hole score on the season and gave him his first individual title at Mercer. Of the 90 golfers who participated in the event, Cone was the only player to break 70.
Mercer fielded the top three finishers at the tournament as junior John Gregory Joseph and freshman Hans Reimers tied for second place overall.
Cone's 69 came in conjunction with an opening round 75 and helped him outpace his teammates by two strokes.
Joseph backed up an opening round 71 with a 75 while Reimers carded back-to-back 73's at the event.
Sophomore Matt Kocolowski tied three others for 16th place overall with a score of 154 (76-78). Junior Stefan Labuschagne shot 81 on Sunday and improved upon that total by three strokes on Monday, placing tied for 38th.
Mercer's final round 295 extended the team's lead on fellow Atlantic Sun conference members Belmont and Lipscomb. The Bears finished the event 37 strokes ahead of Belmont (627) and 42 strokes in front of Lipscomb (632).
As a team, Mercer led the field with 29 birdies in two rounds. Mercer also led the tournament in par three scoring (2.97) and par four scoring (4.22).
"This being the first victory in six years of the program we'll celebrate it tonight and then we have a quick turnaround for next week," Tredway said. "We have plenty to work on before we leave this Friday."
Mercer's next competition is the John Hayt Intercollegiate at the Sawgrass Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. The three-day event is scheduled for Feb. 27-March 1.
Players Mentioned
