GRAMLING, S.C. – The Walters State golf team will find themselves in a familiar place in a few weeks: the NJCAA national tournament.
The Senators had the lead after the first day of the NJCAA Division II Southeastern Championship at the Village Greens Golf Club in South Carolina but struggled on the second day as they shot a 309 compared to a 298 in Monday's opening round. Despite that, Walters State finished second in the tournament and earns a birth to the national tournament which begins on May 18 in Plymouth, Indiana.
Abraham Baldwin won the event by slicing 11 stokes off their first day score to go 307-296=603 and best Walters State by four strokes. The Stallions and Senators were the final two teams standing two years ago in the Southeastern championship as Walters State qualified for the top spot by winning in a two-hole playoff.
Brock Barber was the overall individual winner as he shot 71-72-143 for Abraham Baldwin to beat Walters State's Nate Vaughan (72-72-145) and Brady Kotkiewicz (70-75-145), his ABAC teammate, by two strokes. Other WSCC scores included Chad Homan who shot 71-79-150 to place fourth, Hogan Herring who placed seventh after carding a 74-79-153, Hunter Hartman's 81-78-159 which placed him in a tie for 13th place and Zach Wood who finished 24th with a score of 81-86-167.
The Stallions were able to come from behind to claim the top spot primarily through the play of Hagen Marion and Ian Arnold. Marion shot 83 in Monday's opening round but slimmed that back to 74 on day two. Arnold was also able to improve his score by shaving nine strokes on Tuesday when he fired a 75. In addition to Walters State and Abraham Baldwin advancing to the Hoosier State national tourney as a team, Andy Fox of Roane State, Austin Smith of Surry and Cleveland State's Trent Cooper, Tyler Jackson and Mattew Ott qualified as individuals by placing in the top 10.
Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth Indiana will be the host of this year's national tournament and the event will be held May 18-21.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics