Posted: May 13, 2023
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Coker University senior Killian Ryan (Nottingham, England) never got anything going Saturday in the NCAA DII South-Southeast Super Regional final round and finished with a 6-over par 77.
Ryan, who stood 21st out of 108 golfers after firing rounds of 71 and 71 on Thursday and Friday, managed just one birdie Saturday to go with five bogeys and one double at Grande Dunes Golf Club.
Knowing he would have to go low to earn one of the two individual spots for players not on the six advancing teams, his hopes for a spot in the National Championship were dashed when he made four bogeys on the front 9. His approach to No. 2 caught a gust of wind and rolled down off the second green, leading to a bogey, and he failed to get up and down from bunkers on Nos. 4, 7, and 8.
As it turned out, Ryan would have needed a 7-under 65 to earn one of those elusive spots since a 6-under total resulted in a two-player playoff for the final spot, which was won by Lynn's Jose Ramirez. Andrew Riley of Palm Beach Atlantic led the tourney from start to finish and claimed medalist honors at 62-70-72--204.
The Regional team title went to nationally third-ranked West Florida at 6-under. The other national qualifiers were No. 2 Barry (-4), No. 6 Nova Southeastern (E), No. 5 North Georgia (+1), No. 4 Lee (+2), and No. 8 Georgia Southwestern (+2). The stacked field of 20 included 15 teams ranked in the top 25 in the country. Lee is the defending National Champion and Nova was the host. Anderson, the No. 1 team in the nation all season after winning 8-of-10 tournaments, made a major move up the leaderboard by going 10-under on the first four holes, but the rally fizzled and the Trojans ended up 10th at +11.
On his back nine, Ryan parred 10, 11 and 12, but doubled 13. He then rifled an approach to two feet and made his only birdie on No. 14. He parred three of his final four holes for a back-nine 37.
Overall, he hit nine greens and eight fairways and had 29 putts.
"It just wasn't Killian's day, which is unfortunate, because he played so steadily in the first two rounds," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "He is an outstanding player and it was an excellent accomplishment to earn an individual spot from the vaunted Southeast Region, but he just never had anything positive happen early in the round to change his mojo.
"In the first two rounds, he hit the ball really well on at least one of the nine holes. He did the same today. He only hit three greens on the front nine to shoot 40 but came back to hit six on the back nine.
"He had a mud ball, a plugged lie in a bunker, and a birdie chip that bounced off the flagstick. It was just one of those days every golfer experiences where not much went his way, but that does not take away from the fact he was an All-Conference player and is one of the best players in school history. Since we just missed out on a team berth to the Regionals, I know he and his teammates will be hungry to be a national title contender next season."
Ryan plans to use his Covid year to play a fifth season for the Cobras in 2023-24.