Alex van Wyk gets ninth at UAB tournament; Jags finish tied for seventh place
Alex van Wyk shot a third-round 69 to finish tied for ninth place at the Graeme McDowell Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. (photo by Teri Booth)
By Brian Mitchell |
Sports writer
Augusta University’s Alex van Wyk rallied with a final-round 69 to finish tied for ninth place at the Graeme McDowell Invitational collegiate golf tournament on Sept. 30 in Birmingham, Ala.
Alex Van Wyk was excited about his performance in the tournament at the Greystone Golf & Country Club’s Founders Course, especially his final shot of the 54-hole event
“I had a short bunker shot and just picked my landing spot and it went in,” van Wyk said.
He said his short game was key to his strong finish.
“I was putting a lot better today,” he said. “I was chipping and capitalizing when I got in position.”
Host University of Alabama Birmingham place first in the competition. Georgia Southern place second in the tournament with the University of Louisiana Monroe in third place. In fourth was Middle Tennessee State, and in fifth was Coastal Carolina. Louisiana was sixth, and the Jaguars tied for seventh place with the University of South Alabama.
The AU men’s golf team had six participants in the Graeme McDowell Invitational. The participants were Alex Van Wyk, Ben Van Wyk, Dan Sheehan, Hampus Wijkstrom, Brock Hoover and Dawson Booth.
Ben Van Wyk, who led for a good portion of the first round, finished in a tie for 15th at 1 over par. Next up on the leaderboard for AU were Sheehan (+10), Wijkstrom (+12), Hoover (+15) and Booth (+23).
Jaguar Coach Jack O’Keefe said the team gained some valuable experience that will be used in their next tournament.
“We have a lot of work to do,” O’Keefe said. “We didn’t play our best in Birmingham. We have a lot of talent, but have to work hard to get better. Patience is key. We struggled a little bit the first day, and we kind of struggled a little bit today.”
O’Keefe praised Alex Van Wyk.
“He really executed really well on the par-5 holes,” O’Keefe said. “He is just a real gritty kind of grinder who never gives up.”
That determination led to Van Wyk finishing in the top 10.
O’Keefe thought there were some nerves since this was the team’s first tournament in about seven months, and that had an effect on the players’ performance.
The team moves on to their next tournament, the HealthPlan Mountaineer Invitational in Bridgeport, WVa., on Oct. 19 and 20. This will be the Jaguars’ first time playing in the West Virginia tournament.
O’Keefe said the team will have a couple of weeks of practice before the tourney. There are some key areas of the game that Coach O’Keefe wants to work on with the team. He will also have some qualifying matches to determine who will go to the HealthPlan Mountaineer Invitational.
Contact Brian Mitchell at BRMITCHELL2@augusta.edu.
