|
Clayton State’s Wilcox wins individual Peach Belt Conference men’s golf championship Second-place finish best ever at conference championship for 20th-ranked Lakers
Clayton State held off a tremendous by Georgia College, nipping the 10th-ranked Bobcats by two strokes, while 12th-ranked Columbus State finished fourth in the eight-team field with a 901 (32-293-294). The second-place finish was the best ever in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for Clayton State, and the Lakers set a new 54-hole team record by nine strokes, relative to par. "Coming into this season, I expected us to be better, but this is tremendous," said second-year Clayton State head coach Barry Harwell. "Our goal this season was to crack the Division II Top 25 and advance to NCAA Regionals, which we have. Finishing second at the conference championships exceeded those goals." Wilcox followed up his first and second round scores of 70 and 68 with another 70 on Tuesday to finish 8-under par overall with a 208, eight strokes ahead of runner-up Roberto Diaz from USC Aiken. The runner-up in last season’s PBC Tournament, Wilcox is the first ever Clayton State player to win an individual Peach Belt Conference championship. He capped off his dominating performance with a second straight bogey-free round. Wilcox did not record a bogey over his final 43 holes dating back to the par four 11th hole in the first round. He polished off the championship with two birdies in the final round, and was the only player to finish under-par for the tournament. "I didn’t make many bad mistakes throughout the tournament, and to have only one bogey over three rounds is amazing," said Wilcox, who transferred to Clayton State last season from Division I Alabama-Birmingham. "I’ve had a big opportunity here at Clayton State, so I value it tremendously. The fact that we have turned things around so quickly as a team means a lot to us, especially to coach." Wilcox wasn’t alone, however, for the Lakers. Sophomore Wade Binfield shot a 74 in the final round and finished third overall with a 1-over 217, one stroke ahead of Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Chris Wolfe from Armstrong Atlantic. Junior Neil McBride finished tied for 22nd with a 229 (73-79-77), followed by junior Jonathan Visconti in 24th with a 231 (76-81-74). Rounding out the Laker scoring was freshman Kevin Duncan finishing tied for 27th with a 233 (75-76-82). The strong finish should be more than enough to qualify Clayton State for the NCAA Division II Southeast Region on May 5-7 in Mooresville, N.C. It would be the Lakers’ first regional berth since 2003. FINAL ROUND SCORES |
AIKEN,
S.C. – April 22, 2008 – The years of hovering at or
near the bottom of the Peach Belt Conference in men’s golf are a
memory now for the Clayton State Lakers.