Columbus State Third, GCSU Fifth at NCAA Golf Championships

Columbus State played its way to within three shots of the lead on two occasions Friday at the Division II Golf Championship, but faltered on the final five holes and had to settle for a third place finish. GCSU shaved a stroke off of their third-round total and finished fifth in the 20-team field. The Cougars shot a team total of 294 in the final round to finish at 1182 (+46) for four rounds while GCSU shot a 300 on the final day to finish at 1191 (+55). The championship was played at the 6,996-yard, par 71 Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash.

CSU found itself just three shots behind leader Cal State Bernardino just after making the turn on Friday and briefly moved into second place. The team remained in easy striking distance until reaching hole 14. From that point, CSU played the final five holes at 11 over par to fall as far down as fourth place. Steven Paine's birdie on the 18th hole turned out to be a big shot for the team as it got them back to +10 for the day which later solidified third place.

Defending champion Barry struggled on the same set of holes, falling behind CSU and landing in fourth place. The Buccaneers shot a 296 on Friday. Sonoma State got hot, however, and jumped into the lead briefly with San Bernardino. The two played themselves back toward the field and finished tied after regulation play, just three shots ahead of the Cougars and four in front of Barry. Sonoma State went on to defeat CSSB on a one-hole playoff to win the title. Sonoma fired a 291 in the final round, while San Bernardino ballooned to a 300. Sonoma was even par on the playoff hole, while San Bernardino was one over.

Gavin Smith of Indiana-Pennsylvania finished tied with Kelbi Lee of Ferris State after regulation play and won the individual title with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Both players finished at 289 (+5). Three-day leader Gene Webster of CSSB shot a 77 on Friday and finished tied for third with Sonoma State's Patrick Bauer at 290 (+6).

Paine saved his best round for last on Friday, shooting a one-under par 70 - which tied three others for the low round of the day. He made the turn at -2 after four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. Bogeys at holes 12 and 17 took him back to even par, but the birdie on 18 gave him a memorable final round in his first national championship tournament. He finished tied for fifth position overall at 292.

Kyle Albright had his round at one-under after a birdie on hole 12, but he finished bogey-bogey-bogey on 16-18 to card a round of 73. He finished a solid national championship performance at 296 (+12), tied for 17th. Andrew Georgiou made the turn at even-par but had three bogeys on the back side to shoot 74. His 297 total (+13) gave him a top 20 finish as he tied for 20th. He was joined at 297 by Michael Hicks, who had a tough home stretch to shoot 77. Hicks, who fired one of the tournament's best rounds with a 68 on Wednesday, rolled in a birdie on hole 13 to get to even par before the wheels began to fall off. A double bogey on the par-5 14th started a stretch which included bogeys on 15 and 16 and another double bogey on 17. JP van der Walt rounded out the CSU team with a 78 on Friday for a total of 314 for the week.

Niclas Johansson fired a final round 74 to finish at +9 293 and was the highest Bobcat finisher in a tie for ninth. Billy Shida was tied for 17th after a final round 75 while Pedro da Costa Lima was tied for 37th after his second straight 76. Franciso Bide tied his tournament-low with a 75 in the final round to finish at 306, which was also Joe Young's four-round total after a 77 on Friday.