Columbus State, Van der Walt Win at Rollins; Clayton State Sixth
Ocoee, FL - Columbus State's JP van der Walt carded an
extraordinary round of 67 in blustery conditions on Tuesday to win
medalist honors and lead CSU to a nine shot win at the Rollins
College Invitational. The South African senior posted rounds of
69-68-67 to take his first tournament win at CSU. The Cougars
posted a team total of 295 on the day and finished at 862 for three
rounds. Final Team Results Final Player Results
Lynn University (871) was second, followed by Florida Southern
(875), Nova Southeastern (878) and Brevard (878). Flagler, Clayton
State, Barry, Ferris State, and Florida Tech took spots 6-10, while
host Rollins, West Georgia, Lynn B, St. Leo, Tampa, and Eckerd
rounded out the 16 team field.
van der Walt's stellar play tied him with J.D. Guinney of Rollins
for the low round of the day and almost single-handedly assured the
Cougars of the team win. He won the individual title by four shots
over Ferris State's Kelbi Lee, who fired a 69 in the final round.
Andrew Georgiou shot a final-round 75 to finish tied for ninth, and
Michael Hicks turned in a solid 73 to tie for 25th. Steven Paine
struggled coming home and wound up with a score of 81, while
Michael Lee struggled for most of the round and carded an 80. Paine
tied for 37th and Lee 47th. Kyle Albright, playing as an
individual, shot a final round 73 and finished tied for 33rd
position.
The victory is the second straight for CSU and wraps up the fall
portion of the 2008-09 schedule. The Cougars will now begin
preparation for their championship segment which will begin in
February.
Clayton State, ranked 21st in the nation in Division II, battled
strong winds during the entire final round and shot a 298. That
gave the Lakers a three-round score of 879, tying them with Flagler
for sixth place in the 15-team field.
In all five of their fall tournaments, the Lakers garnered Top 10
finishes, including one second-place finish and two third-place
finishes.
Individually for Clayton State, two-time Division II All-American
Will Wilcox finished fourth overall with a 3-under par 213. He shot
a 74 in Tuesday’s final round and was nine strokes off the
pace of individual low medalist J.P. van der Walt.