They came to Statesboro as the highest-ranked team in the field, but the Georgia Bulldogs said they didn’t expect to run away with this weekend’s Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational.
“Any time you can win by a big margin, it’s kind of a surprise because there are so many good teams here,” said UGA coach Chris Haack, whose team shot a 10-under 854 to win by six strokes at Forest Heights Country Club. “It obviously helped that we played very well. All five guys contributed and played really solid. It just happened to be our week.”
It was the fifth Schenkel title and first since 2001 for the Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation according to GolfWeek. Georgia senior Chris Kirk claimed the individual title with a 6-under 210, while his teammate, senior Brendon Todd, was second with a 2-under 212. The Bulldogs held a comfortable lead all weekend, including a 14-stroke advantage after the first two rounds.
Georgia Southern finished seventh thanks largely to senior Bryan Jones, who was spectacular in Sunday’s final round, posting a career-best 6-under 66 - the lowest 18-hole score for this year’s Schenkel. His day included his first career hole-in-one along with five consecutive birdies, and Jones shot an even-par 216 for the tournament to finish tied for seventh - GSU’s top individual for the second straight year.
Jones’ day got off to a strong start when he birdied holes 12-16 (the Eagles played the traditionally tougher back nine first) and got even better when he used his 6-iron on the third hole for the hole-in-one. From his vantage point, Jones couldn’t see result but knew it was good when his teammate Ryan Zabroske threw his arms up and shouted with approval.
“It was pretty cool,” Jones said. “My mom and my brother were there watching, so I got to hug them right afterwards.”
Eagle coach Larry Mays couldn’t have been happier for Jones, the team’s lone senior in the starting five.
“I don’t know what I’m more impressed with, the hole-in-one on No. 3 or the five birdies in a row,” Mays said. “Or the fact that he kept it all together. Sixty-six is pretty special in the Schenkel.”
As a team, the Eagles shot a 23-over 887 for the tournament and used Sunday’s even-par 288 – the third lowest round of the day - to finish in the top 10. The Eagles were tied for 14th after the first two rounds Saturday.
“Obviously we played a lot better, and we’re proud of the guys,” Mays said. “We had a great round out of Bryan Jones. The other guys battled through and really hung in there. We had a couple guys get off to a rough start and a couple guys get off to good starts.
“We hung in there, we made a lot of birdies and didn’t make near as many mistakes. We had a focused team today, and they didn’t let anything bother them. They seemed like a different team than we had out yesterday. They took control of what happened today, and that’s the way we want to play. That’s the way we want to finish the season.”
The Eagles are hoping Sunday’s final round — which helped them finish ahead of three top 25 teams — will catapult them through the rest of the season. GSU is off until the Augusta State Invitational March 30.
“This showed the whole town of Statesboro and us that we have a team now,” Jones said. “That’s important to give us and the people who support us confidence.”
As for the Bulldogs, Haack said the team’s solid practice round Friday set the tone for the weekend.
“When they sensed that, they all kind of freed themselves up to play well,” Haack said. “It was just kind of a loose tournament for us. We were just happy that everything fell into place.”
Along with Georgia, Alabama was the only other team to finish below par as the Crimson Tide shot a 4-under 860. Auburn (4-over 868), South Carolina (10-over 874) and Florida (17-over 881) rounded out the top five.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
“Any time you can win by a big margin, it’s kind of a surprise because there are so many good teams here,” said UGA coach Chris Haack, whose team shot a 10-under 854 to win by six strokes at Forest Heights Country Club. “It obviously helped that we played very well. All five guys contributed and played really solid. It just happened to be our week.”
It was the fifth Schenkel title and first since 2001 for the Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation according to GolfWeek. Georgia senior Chris Kirk claimed the individual title with a 6-under 210, while his teammate, senior Brendon Todd, was second with a 2-under 212. The Bulldogs held a comfortable lead all weekend, including a 14-stroke advantage after the first two rounds.
Georgia Southern finished seventh thanks largely to senior Bryan Jones, who was spectacular in Sunday’s final round, posting a career-best 6-under 66 - the lowest 18-hole score for this year’s Schenkel. His day included his first career hole-in-one along with five consecutive birdies, and Jones shot an even-par 216 for the tournament to finish tied for seventh - GSU’s top individual for the second straight year.
Jones’ day got off to a strong start when he birdied holes 12-16 (the Eagles played the traditionally tougher back nine first) and got even better when he used his 6-iron on the third hole for the hole-in-one. From his vantage point, Jones couldn’t see result but knew it was good when his teammate Ryan Zabroske threw his arms up and shouted with approval.
“It was pretty cool,” Jones said. “My mom and my brother were there watching, so I got to hug them right afterwards.”
Eagle coach Larry Mays couldn’t have been happier for Jones, the team’s lone senior in the starting five.
“I don’t know what I’m more impressed with, the hole-in-one on No. 3 or the five birdies in a row,” Mays said. “Or the fact that he kept it all together. Sixty-six is pretty special in the Schenkel.”
As a team, the Eagles shot a 23-over 887 for the tournament and used Sunday’s even-par 288 – the third lowest round of the day - to finish in the top 10. The Eagles were tied for 14th after the first two rounds Saturday.
“Obviously we played a lot better, and we’re proud of the guys,” Mays said. “We had a great round out of Bryan Jones. The other guys battled through and really hung in there. We had a couple guys get off to a rough start and a couple guys get off to good starts.
“We hung in there, we made a lot of birdies and didn’t make near as many mistakes. We had a focused team today, and they didn’t let anything bother them. They seemed like a different team than we had out yesterday. They took control of what happened today, and that’s the way we want to play. That’s the way we want to finish the season.”
The Eagles are hoping Sunday’s final round — which helped them finish ahead of three top 25 teams — will catapult them through the rest of the season. GSU is off until the Augusta State Invitational March 30.
“This showed the whole town of Statesboro and us that we have a team now,” Jones said. “That’s important to give us and the people who support us confidence.”
As for the Bulldogs, Haack said the team’s solid practice round Friday set the tone for the weekend.
“When they sensed that, they all kind of freed themselves up to play well,” Haack said. “It was just kind of a loose tournament for us. We were just happy that everything fell into place.”
Along with Georgia, Alabama was the only other team to finish below par as the Crimson Tide shot a 4-under 860. Auburn (4-over 868), South Carolina (10-over 874) and Florida (17-over 881) rounded out the top five.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
