Mercer Moves Up One, Finishes Seventh at SoCon Championship

Tuesday, April 25

Pinehurst, N.C.

Mercer University

Southern Conference Championship

Mercer Moves Up One, Finishes Seventh at SoCon Championship

4/25/2017 3:01:00 PM | Men's Golf

Complete Results

By: Patrick T. Walsh

PINEHURST, N.C. – Mercer carded the second-best round of the day and Justin Connelly shot a 3-under-par 69 as play wrapped up at the 2017 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 9.

The Bears finished seventh overall, just four strokes behind Furman as the 2-over-par 290 final round vaulted the Bears over Samford. Justin Connelly birdied all but one of the par 3s in the final round en route to a 3-under-par 69. A senior, Connelly birdied his final collegiate hole – the par-3, 177-yard Hole No. 9.

MERCER SCORECARD

7.	Mercer	317	305	290	+48	912
T-7.	Justin Connelly	77	77	69	+7	223
24.	Stanton Schorr	81	76	73	+14	230
T-25.	Brennan Bogdanovich	83	74	74	+15	231
T-25.	Hayes Rule	79	78	74	+15	231
T-35.	Kiko Rosete	80	79	79	+22	238

MERCER ON THE TEAM LEADERBOARD
The Bears finished seventh in the Southern Conference Championship after leapfrogging Samford in the final round. The 48-over-par 912 score by Mercer was just four strokes shy of Furman and eight strokes behind Western Carolina. ETSU won the team title at 18-over-par 882 while UNCG was the runner-up at 26-over-par 890.

MERCER ON THE INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
Justin Connelly used his 3-under-par final round to finish in the top 10, placing tied for seventh overall. Connelly birdied all but one par 3 in the final day and led par 3 scoring for the entire tournament with a 2.75 average (-3). Four of the five Mercer golfers finished in the top 25 with Stanton Schorr's 14-over-par placing him 24^th while Brennan Bogdanovich and Hayes Rule both finished tied for 25^th at 15-over-par.

COACH KAYDEN'S THOUGHTS
"We had a very good final round by our guys today. They showed some toughness and played through the elements for a very good team score. We showed our potential this week with today's round, but we also showed this week that we need to work hard in the offseason to make some improvements."

"I am very proud of Justin to finish his career with a great score. He hit many good shots today and to birdie the last hole (No. 9) was icing on the cake to a great year."

"To sum it up, the first round really hurt us this week. I know our young guys will learn from this and be better in the future."

How to Follow the Bears:
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