Erskine rallies on final day to finish 13th at regional

Howey-in-the-Hill, FL – After essentially falling out of contention on the second day, the young Erskine men’s golf team showed tremendous perseverance, carding their best round on day three, to climb five spots in the standings to finish in 13^th place in the 20 team NCAA South/Southeast Regional Tournament at the Mission Inn and Resort (Par 72, 6,928).

With the top 7 teams advancing the NCAA Championship Tournament, Erskine was in striking distance after the first round, sitting in 14^th place, eleven strokes behind 7^th place USC-Aiken. Unfortunately, the Fleet shot a second-round worst 313 to drop to 18^th place and essentially out of contention for the NCAA Championship Tournament. The young Fleet team shrugged off their poor performance, to shoot a 291 on the final day, demonstrating that the young Fleet team is more than capable of playing with the best programs in region and nation. Only the Nova Southeastern, the tournament champion, shot a better round than the Fleet that day. In fact, the 291 was the fourth best team round in the entire tournament.

Sophomore Brad Thorne (Moore, SC, Oakbrook Preparatory School) led the Fleet charge up the standings finishing in 13^th place with a three-day score of 76-73-71-220, missing by one stroke an opportunity to participate in a playoff for an individual invitation to the NCAA Championship. In addition to the top 7 teams, the top two individual finishers who are not on one of the top 7 teams earn an invitation to the NCAA Championship Tournament.

Just three strokes back of Thorne, fellow sophomore Ford Blanchard (Orangeburg, SC, Orangeburg Preparatory Schools) also posted a one under par (71) on the last day to finish tied for 28^th place with a 223 (74-78-71). Junior Jeremy Carrell (Prince George, VA, Prince George High School) also contributed to the Fleet’s run up the leader board, shooting par (72) on the last day to finish tied for 96^th place with a 237 (79-86-72). Meanwhile freshman Tyler Lucas (Rock Hill, SC, Northwestern High School) shot a consistent 77-81-77-235 to finish tied for 87^th place. Freshman Cameron Ford (Bridgeport, WV, Bridgeport High School)completed the scoring for the Flying Fleet with a three-day score of 254 (87-81-86), good for 107^th place.

After placing second on the first day, Nova Southeastern ran away from the pack with back-to-back low rounds of 284 (-9) to easily win the team title by sixteen strokes over 2^nd place Barry College.

Nova Southeastern teammates’ Ben Taylor and Ricardo Celia competed for individual medal honors with Taylor edging Celia by one stroke. Over the three rounds, Taylor never finished over par, winning the tournament with a six under par (210-70-71-69).

Complete Team Results

Complete Individual Results

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