Mercer University
John Hayt Intercollegiate
Men's Golf Takes 11th at John Hayt Collegiate Invitational
3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MACON, Ga. – Sophomore Matt Kocolowski carded a team-low 71 on the final day of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational and the Bears wrapped up the tournament in 11th place with a three-day total of 898.
In Tuesday's final round, Mercer posted a 301, a two-stroke improvement on Monday's total. After three rounds of competition, Mercer outpaced four other schools (No. 43 North Florida, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, UAB) at the event.
"We are really maturing as a team and it's good to see," Mercer head coach Andrew Tredway said. "11th doesn't look great on paper, but it really puts us on a path to get one of the at-large bids at the end of the year. That's our goal, and we just need to keep working at it. They are all important at this stage and I think today was a good learning experience for our guys."
In the end, Mercer was just three shots short of Coastal Carolina for 10th place in the team standings. Mercer was one of 11 teams to complete three rounds with less than 900 strokes, eight of which are ranked among Golfstat's top-50 teams.
No. 20 Arkansas rallied to overtake No. 13 Auburn for the event title, scoring 283 (-5) in the final round. Arkansas' three-day total of 867 placed the Razorbacks two strokes ahead of the Tigers. No. 7 LSU (871), No. 29 UCF (879) and No. 46 Tennessee (882) rounded out the top five teams.
Kocolowski's 71 (-1) on Tuesday came in conjunction with an opening round 77 and a second round 74 to give the Apopka, Fla. native a tie for 21st place individually. Kocolowski was one of eight players with a tournament total of 222 and finished ahead of 64 other participants.
"Kocolowski played really well for us this week," Tredway said. "71 in that wind was huge so I'm excited about how his game is coming along this spring."
Junior John Gregory Joseph and freshman James Beale each needed 76 strokes to navigate the 6,985-yard course on Tuesday. Joseph's 76 combined with a 73 and a 74 to give him a tie for 23rd place overall.
Beale finished tied for 55th individually as he saw two 76-stroke rounds sandwich a second-round 78.
Freshman Hans Reimers signed for a 78 in the final round while junior Josh Cone shot 79. Reimers tied for 38th in the individual standings while Cone tied for 64th.
"I really enjoy coaching these guys," Tredway said. "We have a great group and we just have to keep improving every day. I take a tremendous amount of confidence away from this event."
Mercer's next competition is the Bandon Dunes Championship in Bandon, Ore. on March 11-12. That event will be contested at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
Players Mentioned
