Jaguar golfers finish second at Bash in the Boro at GSU
AU’s Alex van Wyk hits a tee shot during the Bash in the Boro golf tournament en route to a fifth-place finish. (photo by JP van der Walt, special to the Bell Ringer)
By Carlos Rodriguez |
Sports editor
After completing the last round of the two-day Bash in the Boro golf tournament hosted by Georgia Southern, the Augusta University men’s golf team kept their position to finish second overall Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 20, in Statesboro.
The Jaguar team finished 20 under par behind Georgia Southern’s 33 under par outing. The Jaguars were able to defeat Appalachian State and Francis Marion, who tied for third; Wofford College, fifth; Troy University, sixth, and Western Kentucky, seventh.
“The guys played well and did some great things in each round of the tournament,” said AU Coach Jack O’Keefe. “We putted much better and played the par fives well this week.”
The team was led by junior Alex van Wyk, who finished fifth overall, shooting 5 under par. On the day, Alex shot a 66, jumping up 10 spots from his original position of 15th.
“I did a lot of good things this week with my game that I am very happy about,” said van Wyk. “I found some minor areas in which I can improve, so that’s exciting.”
En route to moving up spots in the final round to record his second top-10 finish of the year, van Wyk hit eight birdies.
“My putter was really hot, which really helped me,” he said. “I also played smart and made few mistakes.”
On day one, the team was led by sophomore Jack Vajda, who was the leader of the tournament, shooting 11 under par, tying the school record with 64 strokes in round two for the lowest single round. On day two, Vajda fell several spots to finish in a tie for eighth place, finishing 3 under par in his season debut.
“Day two wasn’t the best of days,” said Vajda. “I had a good start to the day but a couple bad numbers and few shots here and there took me back a bit. Great learning day for sure.”
Despite falling back, Vajda was happy with his performance and noticed many great things.
“I had a great week and gained a lot of confidence in myself. I learned I can take it really deep when I’m on and that’s the guy the team need.”
Sophomore Ben van Wyk was the Jaguars third-highest finisher as he finished tied for 11th, shooting 1 under par.
Freshman Dawson Booth, who Coach O’Keefe believed was the most improved player heading into the tournament, moved up eight spots on the second day to finish tied for 23rd. Booth finished the tournament at 2 over par.
“Dawson is a talented young man who just needs experience,” said O’Keefe. “He has a tremendous short game and made a lot of putts this week. It is great to see him starting to be the player he wants to be.”
Graduate transfer Dan Sheehan rounded up the top five for AU with a 28th place finish while sophomore Hampus Wijkstrom finished tied for 34th. Freshmen Brock Hoover and Wilhelm Berg Von Linde competed individually, finishing tied for 40th and 48th, respectively.
With the completion of this tournament, the golf team finishes its fall season as they only had two tournaments scheduled for this semester due to COVID-19. Heading into the short offseason, Coach O’Keefe will meet with the men to work on things and will have the team compete in individual tournaments.
“We will meet with each player individually to assess their results thus far,” said O’Keefe. “We will really try to and focus on improving our mental health approach with each player as well.”
The team looks to hopefully have a normal season as they resume team play in the spring semester with their first tournament being in January. according to O’Keefe.
“Our schedule for the spring is still the same, but we may add a tournament or two,” he said. “Things are still changing all the time with new COVID-19 restrictions.”
AU golfer Jack Vajda, who finished eighth in the Bash, shows his form off the tee. (photo by JP van der Walt, special to the Bell Ringer)
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.
