Men's Golf . April 23, 2017

Gamecock Men Edged By No. 6 Florida, 3-2, In SEC Match Play

April 23, 2017

SEC Match Play
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GAMECOCK SCORECARDS

1. Keenan Huskey
Quarters: L, 2-up
Semis: —
Finals: —

2. Scott Stevens
Quarters: W, 2&1
Semis: —
Finals: —

3. Jamie Wilson
Quarters: L, 3-up
Semis: —
Finals: —

4. Ryan Stachler
Quarters: W, 3&2
Semis: —
Finals: —

5. Will Miles
Quarters: L, 1-up in 20 holes
Semis: —
Finals: —

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — It was a back-and-forth battle all morning as South Carolina came up just short in the SEC Match Play Quarterfinals, falling to No. 6 Florida 3-2 on Sunday. Sophomore Scott Stevens (2&1) and sophomore Ryan Stachler (3&2) each won their matches, while sophomore Will Miles upset bid versus individual stroke play champion Alejandro Testi fell short on the 20th hole of the round in a sudden death playoff.

Stevens shot 1-over on the backside, where Carolina started the day, and was one down for six straight holes before squaring his match after a birdie on the par-3 third. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native, was in command down the stretch and went 2-up after a birdie on hole six. Gordon Neale took advantage of an errant tee shot and pulled back within one with two holes left in the match. Stevens stripped his tee shot down the middle of the fairway on eight and stuck his approach within 3 feet of the pin. Neale conceded the birdie putt to Stevens and he won the match 2&1 on the 17th hole of play.

Ryan Stachler bounced back from a tough third round in stroke play nearly leading wire-to-wire in his win vs. Jorge Garcia. The Alpharetta, Ga., native dropped a shot on the opening hole but squared the match back up on hole 11 with a par. He then took back control and won the next two holes with consecutive pars to take a 2-up lead. Stachler led by two or more the rest of the way. After a great approach from the bunker, he won 3&1 with a par on hole seven.

Miles gave 18th-ranked Tosti all he could handle the entire day in one of the most entertaining matches of the quarterfinals. Tosti went 2-up early with a par on hole 14. Miles then squared the match with consecutive birdies on 16 and 17. He went 1-up early on the back nine with a birdie on the par-4 second hole, but Testi answered with a birdie on the par-3 third to square the match back up. They shot even par down the stretch in the final six holes, heading to a sudden death playoff back on the 10th tee. Each player carded par on the 10th and Testi won the match 1-up with a par on the 12th hole.

Freshman Jamie Wilson fought tooth and nail with No. 22 Sam Horsfield. The Mount Pleasant, S.C., native, who was fresh off a career-best 66 in the third round of stroke play on Saturday, trailed by two with two holes to play after gaining a shot back with a birdie on the par-5 7th. Wilson hit a great shot out of the greenside bunker on the right, but he was unable to hole out for birdie. Horsfield, who is the No. 3 ranked amateur in the world, took the match after sinking a 50-footer for birdie. Junior Keenan Huskey, who was battling an arm injury, was unable to get things going on Sunday in his match versus Andy Zhang. He trailed for most of the day but made things interesting late. He won two holes down the stretch and like Wilson, was two-down with two holes left to play. Huskey was unable to get the birdie he needed on hole eight and Zhang won the match.

Round Changer Scott Stevens

With his win on Sunday, Stevens remains undefeated in postseason match play as a Gamecock at 2-0. Last season, he become the first South Carolina golfer in the program’s storied history to win a match play contest at the NCAA Championship after he beat Dylan Meyer of Illinois 4&3.

Quoting Coach Bill McDonald

“Really proud of my team overall. It was a heck of a battle out there with Florida. You couldn’t have a closer match. We had it come down literally to the last hole with Jamie and Horsfield and then Will Miles’ match going 20 holes was just a fantastic battle throughout. Really proud of how the guys came out today and played. If you had told me at the beginning of the week with Keenan’s arm being a bit of an issue not knowing if he would play even that we would finish fifth in the stroke play and then have a really good chance to beat Florida with two holes to go — it was a really good week for us. I’m very proud of the guys.”

Notable

South Carolina finished fifth in the stroke play portion of the 2017 SEC Men’s Golf Championship after shooting an even par 280 in the third round on Satuday.
The Gamecocks 42 birdies in stroke play ranked second in the 14-team field.
Keenan Huskey (T-9th), Jamie Wilson (T-16th) and Scott Stevens (T-23rd) paced Carolina with top-25 individual finishes.
The SEC is the first major conference in NCAA Division I Men’s Golf to determine its champion in match play format.

Up Next for the Gamecocks

Carolina will await its postseason fate as the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship Selection Show takes place at noon on Friday, May 5 live on the Golf Channel. Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 15-17 at various sites across the country with 64 of the nation’s top collegiate teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Illinois.