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Lakers’ Wilcox finishes eighth at Southeast Regional; just misses NCAA Tournament bid
Clayton State sophomore shoots final-round score of 76 for three-day score of 229

POOLER, Ga.---MAY 9, 2007--- Clayton State’s Will Wilcox shot a final-round score of four-over-par 76 in the 2007 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional for men’s golf on Wednesday at Savannah Quarters Country Club, which was good enough for an eighth-place finish overall. However, Wilcox’s hopes for an individual NCAA Division II National Tournament bid came up a tad short.

He finished with a three-round score of 229. However, in the Atlantic Regional, Queens’ Iain Hall won the regional with a 228, earning him the high individual honors for the Atlantic/Southeast Super Regional and the bid to the NCAA National Tournament.

Despite not earning the NCAA bid, Wilcox finished the spring season strong for Clayton State after transferring from Alabama-Birmingham at the semester break. The sophomore from Pell City, Ala., recorded six straight Top 10 finishes to close out the season, and his eighth-place performance was the second-best showing for a Laker golfer ever a Regional.

Dave Kelly finished tied for first for Clayton State in the 1999 NCAA South Regional.

Wilcox, who was tied for seventh entering Wednesday’s final round, started out strong. He recorded four birdies on the first nine holes and was one-under at the midway point of the round. But his driver wasn’t very cooperative on the back nine as Wilcox recorded two bogeys, one double-bogey and one triple-bogey.

But he was able to secure par on the 17^th hole and made a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole just as weather conditions were getting bad at Savannah Quarters.

Wilcox finished two strokes behind Kyle Albright and Brandon Kuban from Columbus State and three strokes off the pace of USC-Upstate’s Baxter Culler and Georgia College’s Johan Cronvall. Lander’s Jake Amos was the top individual medallist with a seven-over 223 – six strokes ahead of Wilcox.