Lander, Belair Win Queens Invitational; Clayton St. Second

Led by Billy Belair's first-place finish, the Lander golf team won its first tournament of the season Tuesday afternoon when the Bearcats posted an eight-stroke victory at the 36-hole, 18-team Queens University Invitational at the par-72 Pinecrest Golf Club. Clayton State finished second in the field while Armstrong Atlantic State was 13th.

Belair posted a two-round score of 67-72=139 to finish three strokes in front of teammate Charlie Hoyle (71-71), Clayton State's Will Wilcox (70-72), Anderson's Adam Sheriff (70-72), and Belmont Abbey's Chris Carvill (72-70), who all shot 142.

Lander's Seb Brown tied for 16th with a 72-77=149, Roberto Nasalli-Rocca tied for 35th with 74-79=153, and Bryan Newton tied for 62nd with 80-77=157.

Clayton State shot a second-round score of 292 to finish the rain-shortened event with a 589, eight strokes off the pace. What made this significant for Clayton State is that this was an even loaded with teams from the NCAA Division II Southeast Region, and the Lakers finished ahead of 16 of their 17 opponents in the process.

Individually for the Lakers, senior two-time Division II All-American Will Wilcox finished tied for second overall with a 2-under-par 142. He had the overall lead with three holes remaining, but a bogey and double bogey made Wilcox finish three strokes behind Belair.

In addition to Wilcox, junior Wade Binfield finished tied for 11th overall with a 3-over 147 (74-73), while freshman Jordan Tyler Massey finished tied for 20th with a 150 (77-73). Junior Neil Thomas finished tied for 33rd with a 152 (78-74) and senior Neil McBride finished tied for 54th with a 156 (76-80).

Armstrong Atlantic State got off to a rough start and never recovered in finishing 13th, one stroke out of 12th. Chris Wolfe was the low shooter for the Pirates with 77-72=149 which tied him for 16th place.

USC Aiken was also in action at the Frank Landrey Invitational hosted by Liberty University in Virginia. The Pacers finished 10th in the 14-team field, made up mostly of Division I schools. J.P. Solis shot 72-73-68 for a 213 which tied him for second place overall. Kevin Grady was the next-highest finisher for the Pacers in a tie for 50th.

Click here for results from the Queens Invitational

Click here for results from the Frank Landry Invitational