Jaguar men's golf finishes second in Pinnacle Bank Intercollegiate tourney
By Justin Brosemer | Sports writer
Coach Jack O’Keefe guided his golfers to a second-place finish at the Pinnacle Bank Intercollegiate partaking on the Palmetto Hall Hills, par-72, 6,582-yard course in Hilton Head, S.C. this past weekend, Feb. 22-23rd.
Coming into the final round, AU was tied for first with Charleston Southern. The Jaguars fell back a spot, finishing with a combined score of 873, two points behind the tournament winner, Charleston Southern.
During the last round, Augusta finished with a score of 296, after scoring 289 and 288 for Round One and two, respectively.
“It was a great effort, especially with three guys finishing in the top 10,” Coach O’Keefe said. “We couldn’t just quite pull off the win, but nonetheless it was valuable experience for the next time we come into the last round in contention for the win.”
Charleston Southern would finish the competition with a score of 871 to secure their first place finish. Furman (875), High Point (878) and Francis Marion (881) would round out the top five for the tournament.
AU has many positive takeaways from the Intercollegiate, most notably the impressive play of Alex van Wyk, who finished in third place with a finally tally of 213 (3 under par). Alex van Wyk shot 71, 70 and 72 through three rounds. His brother, Ben van Wyk, and teammate Dawson Booth, would tie for seventh with a score of 218.
“We had three great performances this week,” Ben van Wyk said. “Our wedge-play practice was very beneficial before heading into this competition.”
AU’s Dan Sheehan tied for 30th after shooting 224. Brock Hoover would also go on to score 250 to tie for 79th.
Keller Harper of Furman and High Point’s Brandon Einstein tied for first individually with a score 212. Alex van Wyk was lurking right behind them.
The Jaguars compete again on March 1 tin which they will travel to Pinehurst Invitational hosted by Wake Forest University in Pinehurst, N.C.
“We got a big tournament coming on March 1,” Ben van Wyk said. “Distance control and practicing with shorten irons will help us keep our balls in play on those narrow fairways. Lag-putting practice will also help us on those treacherous greens.”
O’Keefe is looking forward to the Pinehurst tournament.
“We’re going to focus on three separate areas heading into our next competition,” O’Keefe said. “Tee shots, wedge shots—to help us secure more of those birdies we missed out on—and putting, which is of course a focus for us all the time to getting our shots down to the littlest number of strokes possible.”
Note: At the top of the page, Alex van Wyk prepares to putt for the Jaguars. (photo by JP van der Walt)
Contact Justin Brosemer at jbrosemer@augusta.edu
