Men's Golf Season Comes to a Close, Cougars Finish Tied for 10th at South/Southeast Regional

Wilson, N.C. --  The Columbus State men's golf season came to a close on Wednesday as the Cougars finished tied for 10th at the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional, hosted by Barton College at the Wilson Country Club (Par 71, 6839 Yards).  Barry, who shot under par in all three rounds (283-281-281), won the team regional championship by one shot over Lynn.  Florida Southern placed third, Nova Southeastern fourth, and surprising Queen's University of Charlotte finished fifth.  All five teams will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Noblesville, Ind. on May 18-21.

Queen's Ben Lasso (-8) took home medalist honors with three sub-par rounds (69-69-67) to win by three shots over St. Leo's JP Albuquerque (71-67-70), Barton's Daniel Claytor (68-69-71), and Barry's Carlos Velez (70-71-67).  Albuquerque and Claytor both qualified for the finals as the two top finishers not on an advancing team. 

Queen's started the day at (+11), seven shots out of the coveted fifth spot, but strong closing rounds by Andrew Hodge (66) and Lasso (67) helped the team from Charlotte to advance.  Lander who was in fifth place at the start of the day, closed with a 294 and finished at 866 (282-290-294) for three rounds.

Barry, who won the national championship in 2007, finished at 845 (-7).  Lynn placed second at 846 (-6), Florida Southern was third at 854 (+2), followed by Nova Southeastern at 858 (+6), and Queen's at 859 (+7).

Lander was sixth at 866 (+14), St. Leo placed seventh at 867 (+15), with West Florida and Belmont Abbey tied for eighth at 870 (+18).  CSU and Rollins (+21) tied for 10th at 873, one shot better than Georgia College & State and host Barton (874).  Newberry was 14th, North Alabama 15th, Flagler 16th, Armstrong Atlantic State 17th, Lincoln Memorial 18th, Valdosta State a disappointing 19th, and Arkansas Tech rounded out the 20-team field.

CSU, who started the day in seventh place at (+11), closed with a 12-over 296.  Ben Kishigian was solid again with a final round 72.  He finished tied for 33rd at 217 (74-71-72).  Justin Grice struggled to a 75 and finished tied for 40th at 218 (73-70-75).  Stephen Swanepoel carded a final day 74 to finish tied for 43rd at 219 (72-73-74).  Steven Paine struggled early and closed with an 80 and finished tied for 72nd at 224 (73-71-80).  Jeremy Britt rounded out the scoring for the Cougars with a 75 and placed in a tie for 91st at 230 (76-79-75).

The CSU squad has no seniors and will look to get back to the post-season in 2010-11.