ALBANY, Ga. -- The Trojan men's golf team rounded out Georgia Southwestern's Hurricane Invitational on Tuesday, finishing 4th in a field stacked with nationally-ranked opponents. Anderson concluded the tournament with a 13-under team score of 281-292-278—851. The result is the best performance by the team this season and sits fifth all-time in program history.
"Not sure where to start. So proud of the guys this week!" said Head Men's Golf Coach Austin Castles. "Can't say enough good things about what we did. Went out and got off to a great start in Round 1 and posted a really good number. That carried on into Round 2, but we faltered a bit and struggled coming down the closing stretch of holes. We regrouped and went into today with the same mindset and game plan and played a truly special round of golf which kept us in a fight for a better position with some of the best teams in the country."
AU tied for fourth with No. 6 Lincoln Memorial, topping five Top-25 teams: No. 10 Lee, No. 12 USC Aiken, No.19 Columbus State, No. 21 Wingate and No. 24 Barton. Ahead of Anderson on the scoreboard were No. 2 North Georgia, No. 3 West Florida and No. 5 Georgia Southwestern.
"At the end of the day, it's just so fun to compete at a high level," added Castles. "As athletes and coaches, there is nothing better than that! I think this finish is huge for us as a team moving forward. It proves to this team that we can compete with the best. It proves that the work they are putting in is beginning to pay off."
Sophomore Luke Sullivan (Columbia, S.C.) led the Trojans, carding rounds of 68-72-70 to land 7th on the leader board at –6. Sullivan's 54-hole score of 210 sits tied for 12th all time in Trojan history. Senior Simon Wright (Lancaster, S.C.) finished second for the Black and Gold and 10th in the field at –5 with a final score of 71-72-68--211.
"Simon and Luke were huge for us this week. They were so solid in each round, and we were able to lean on them big time."
Jamie Markwick (Bishop's Waltham, Eng.) shot a team-best five-under third round, finishing 72-75-67--214 on the tournament, while Can Gürdenli (Istanbul, Turkey) shot two-under to start the tournament, ending the contest with a score of 70-73-73--216.
"Jamie gave us two massive rounds, including 67(-5) this afternoon in Round 3. Lastly, I can't say enough good things about the way Can fought out there. He gave us everything he had and was there when we need him most."
The Trojans look to build this momentum in two weeks (Oct. 21-22) when they host the McCoy-Wright Invitational at Currahee Club.
"Look forward to continuing the grind of getting better each day as a unit. Go Trojans!"
