Randy Jones
5/16/2009 7:06:05 PM
SORRENTO, Fla. – Mercer men’s golfer Bill Jones III saved his best for last, posting his lowest score of the NCAA Southeast Regional at the RedTail Golf Club course in Sorrento, Fla., on Saturday.
The Conyers, Ga., native carded a final round one-under par, 70, to finish the three-day in a four-way tie for 40th with an overall score of 214 (71-73-70). He played even-par through his first four holes on Saturday, but ran into trouble by notching bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes, both par fours, but responded by posting three consecutive birdies at the 17th, 18th and 1st holes, reaching one-under on the day.
Jones played steady over the next five holes before picking up his fourth birdie on No. 7 and concluded his afternoon with a bogey on the ninth.
“Bill obviously didn’t play as well as he would have liked,” Mercer head coach Andrew Tredway said. “But this was a good experience for him and good exposure for our program.”
In order to qualify for the NCAA Finals, Jones would have to have been the lowest scoring individual that was not one of the top five teams at the regional event. That honor went to Corey Nagy of Charlotte, who secured the individual berth from the Southeast Regional by placing fourth at 204 (65-70-69).
“This course was actually a little easier than most we played on during the season,” Tredway added. “But Bill got off to a bad start – if you don’t make your putts, it’s difficult to keep up with the leaders. It did come together for him late.”
Campbell, winner of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, finished the event 13th at 10 over-par 862 (293-281-288), while host UCF took home team honors with an impressive 34 under-par 818 (268-277-273), finishing 11 strokes ahead of second-place and top-ranked Georgia (829).
Arizona and South Carolina each finished 11 strokes back at 829. Iowa secured the fifth and final berth in the NCAA Championship by placing fifth at 837 strokes, six better than sixth-place Georgia State (843).
For complete results, go to www.golfstat.com