GSW's Gibson Wins Aflac; Lander Finishes Fourth

Three Peach Belt Conference teams finished in the top 10 and Georgia Southwestern's Craig Gibson shot a blistering 65 in the final round of the AFLAC/Cougar Invitational which concluded on Tuesday at the Green Island Country Club in Columbus. Lander finished tied for fourth in the huge 21-team field while GCSU was sixth and GSW tied for 10th. Seven PBC teams in all competed in the event.

Gibson took medalist honors with his six-under-par round of 65 on the par-71 course, the low round of the tournament. He shot a bogey-free final round and birdied four holes (3,6,7,11) before notching an eagle on the 14th to win the tournament by a stroke over Chesley Gunn from Valdosta State. Gibson started the second round tied for 28th after an opening-round 72.

As a team, GSW moved up seven spots from day one to finish tied for 10th, coming in ahead of the tournament hosts, second-ranked Columbus State and tying No. 6 Florida Southern at 581.

Lander, ranked 21st nationally, defeated seven top-20 teams and finished tied for fourth with Valdosta State at 575. The Bearcats were led by Bryan Newton and Seb Brown, who tied for 16th place with 2-over-par 143. Newton, who led the first round when he carded a 4-under 67, shot 76 today. Brown shots rounds of 74-69. Roberto Nasalli-Rocca tied for 25th with 72-72=144, Charlie Hoyle tied for 33rd with 73-72=145; and Chad Siefert was 105th with 76-87=163.

Top-ranked GCSU jumped eight slots in the final round, firing an even-par team score of 284 to finish in sixth. Junior Joe Young led the Bobcats, tying for sixth with a final round 68 (-3) and total of 141 (-1). The sixth place finish is Young's third top-10 of the fall season in four tournaments and he is averaging 71.2 strokes per round. Senior Francisco Bide shot an even-par 71 to finish with a 146 (+4) and tie for 43rd. Taylor Smith and Billy Shida finished tied for 52nd at 147. The redshirt-freshman Smith fired an even-par 71 today as junior Shida shot a plus-three 74.

Armstrong Atlantic State's Tyler Erickson shot 71-70=141 to finish in a tie for sixth while Clayton State's Wade Binfield was tied for 16th at 143. Also tied in 16th with Columbus State's Stephen Swanepoel who fired a 73-70.

Barry ran away with the team tournament title with founds of 283 and 278 to finish seven-under-par as a team, 10 strokes ahead of North Alabama and 11 in front of Barton. The tournament was shortened to two rounds after rain on the first day prevented players from completing 36 holes.

Complete Results