Three top-20 finishes for Augusta men’s golf in John Hayt Invitational

By Justin Brosemer | Sports writer

The Augusta men’s golf team finished 10th in the John Hayt Invitational on Monday, March 29, in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

The Jaguars shot 302, 294 and 287 for 54 holes and totaled 883 (+19) on the par-72 layout at the famed Sawgrass Country Club.

“It was good to see us have a good team performance instead of one of our players having a great performance and the rest being decent,” Alex van Wyk said.

The Jags competed against some of the top teams in the nation in the 14-team field including winner Clemson University (845) and runner-up the University of North Florida (856). Florida State (863), Liberty (868), and the University of Central Florida (869) rounded out the top five. 

Other competing programs included the University of Alabama-Birmingham (871), Louisville (873), Wake Forest (875), South Florida (880), Coastal Carolina (895), Charlotte (898), Jacksonville (898) and the University of South Carolina-Upstate (922).

With three Jaguars placing in the top 20, Ben van Wyk led the Jaguars once again, tying for eight place and shooting 74 in the first round, 71 in the second and 69 in the final round of the invitational tor a score of 214.

Dan Sheehan tied for 14th, finishing his three rounds with a score of 217. Alex van Wyk would round out the top-three Jaguar finishes with a score of 219, good for 20th place.

Hampus Wijkstrom had a cumulative score of 233, finishing 72nd. Dawson Booth finished in 83rd place with his final tally of 241.

Augusta now is hosting the Haskins Award Invitational Presented by Valspar on April 3-4 at Forest Hills, AU’s home course.

“It will be great to host such great programs around the nation,” Alex van Wyk said. “it is supposed to be the top 15-20 teams in the area. Hopefully, I can get a better result for my team and we take a high placing.”

Update: Augusta was in 11th place after the first day of Haskins at Forest Hills. Ben van Wyk was the top Jaguar golfer at 3 under par. He was tied for 16th place. In the team race, Pepperdine was eight shots ahead of Oklahoma State. Notre Dame was third and Illinois fourth. Arizona and Virginia Tech were tied for fifth.

Contact Justin Brosemer at jbrosemer@augusta.edu.