Mercer Finishes Second at Sam Hall Intercollegiate

Monday, September 17

Hattiesburg, Miss.

Mercer University

Sam Hall Intercollegiate

Mercer Finishes Second at Sam Hall Intercollegiate

9/18/2018 4:33:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results (PDF)

Tyler Copp places second; four Bears finish in top six individually

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Mercer shot an even-par 284 over the final 18 holes of play to take second place at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate behind host Southern Miss on Tuesday at the Hattiesburg Country Club.

The Bears, who entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Southern Miss, were unable to match the Golden Eagles' impressive 5-under-par round. Mercer finished the tournament at 5-under-par (847) while Southern Miss shot 9-under-par overall.

Sophomore Tyler Copp was Mercer's top individual finisher, earning runner-up honors with a third-round 68 (-3) that helped him jump four spots in the final standings. Three other Bears – Stanton Schorr, Martin Plukka and Nolan Miller – tied for sixth overall at 2-under-par for the tournament.

Mercer Scorecard

2	Mercer	286	277	284	-5	847
2	Tyler Copp (Individual)	69	71	68	-5	208
T-6	Stanton Schorr	70	67	74	-2	211
T-6	Martin Plukka	72	68	71	-2	211
T-6	Nolan Miller	70	72	69	-2	211
T-36	Lino Galdin	74	71	73	+5	218
T-46	Spencer Ball	78	71	71	+7	220

Final Team Standings (Top Five)

Southern Miss (-9, 843)
Mercer (-5, 847)
Missouri State (-1, 851)
Bowling Green State (+3, 855)
Troy (+4, 856)

Coach Kayden's Take
"I'm proud of our team's effort and attitude all tournament and while we didn't get the win, this performance showed what we're capable of this year," said head coach Kirk Kayden. "The guys battled hard after a difficult front nine holes and got back to even-par for the day by the end of it.

"Congrats to Tyler Copp for his runner-up finish. We had multiple guys play really strong golf all tournament and that's encouraging to see for our team moving forward."

Mercer on Team Leaderboard
Despite shooting its second-best round of the two-day tournament, Mercer was unable to hold onto the one-stroke advantage it held entering Tuesday's final round. However, the Bears still capped an outstanding performance by separating themselves from third-place finisher Missouri State (-1).

The Bears struggled on the front nine, shooting 6-over-par, before turning it around over the final nine holes to get their third-round score back to even-par. Mercer was 10 strokes behind Southern Miss at one point before closing the gap to four by the end of the day.

Mercer on Individual Leaderboard
Tyler Copp earned runner-up honors and was the tournament's top individual finisher (was not included in Mercer's team score) after finishing 5-under-par (208). After scores of 69 and 71 in the first two rounds on Monday, Copp was even better Tuesday, firing a 68 that was highlighted by three birdies over his final nine holes.

Stanton Schorr, who entered Tuesday's final round as the clubhouse leader at 5-under-par, faltered slightly with a 74 on the day despite consecutive birdies on No. 7-8 and an eagle on No. 17. Schorr still finished tied for sixth, six shots off the lead.

Nolan Miller shot Mercer's second-best individual round on Tuesday with a 69 and used four birdies to jump nine spots into a tie for sixth place alongside Schorr and freshman Martin Plukka.

Up Next
The Bears will look to keep their momentum moving in the right direction when they head to Toledo, Ohio for the Inverness Intercollegiate, hosted by Toledo on Sept. 23-25 at the Inverness Club. Mercer played in the same tournament last year, placing 10th out of 13 teams.

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