September 14, 2010

Cone Finishes Fifth, Mercer Ties for Seventh in the Invitational at Kiawah

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Junior Josh Cone carded his second-straight 71 in Tuesday’s final round of the Invitational at Kiawah to help the Mercer men’s golf team finish tied for seventh at the event.  Cone finished fifth individually, outpacing 67 other competitors at the 7,504-yard Ocean Course.

North Carolina State (873) captured the tournament title, outshooting Notre Dame (879), host College of Charleston (880), Coastal Carolina (884) and UAB (888). 

Mercer completed the tournament with a three-round total of 897, equaling the effort of Davidson College and falling short of Vanderbilt (889) for sixth place.

Texas State (905), St. Mary’s (913), Maryland (915) and Western Carolina (928) rounded out the 12-team field.

“I really like the team we have,” Mercer head coach Andrew Tredway said.  “It’s a really good group of guys that never give up.  We got every shot out of these guys that we could and they just never quit.”

Cone’s three-round total of 218 was just one stroke off the second-place finishers and four strokes behind the individual winner, College of Charleston’s John Duke Hudson (214).  Cone’s third-round 71 featured three birdies as the Thomasville, Ga. native wrapped up his first Division I tournament.

“Josh’s game suits a tournament like that,” Tredway said.  “He’s got an aggressive, attacking style.  We’re pretty excited about the player we have in him.”

Mercer sophomore Matt Kocolowski tallied his third career top-20 finish, firing a 73 on Tuesday to finish the event tied for 20^th place individually.  Kocolowski’s 73 came in conjunction with an opening round 77 and a second round 76 on Monday.

Junior Stefan Labuschagne tied for 33^rd place at the event, employing 74 strokes on Tuesday. 

Sophomore Thomas Holmes posted back-to-back 77’s on Monday and improved up on those scores with a 76 Tuesday to place in a tie for 38^th place individually.  Freshman Mookie DeMoss wound up tied for 48^th place after shooting 78 in the final round.

Redshirt sophomore John Gregory Joseph posted his second four-over 76 of the tournament to finish tied for 52^nd place.

As a team, the Bears improved in each round of the event, opening with a first-round 304 before combining to record scores of 299 and 294 in the second and third rounds.

Mercer now has a 12-day hiatus before returning to competitive play at the VCU Shootout on Sept. 27-28.