Posted: Feb 27, 2024
PAWLEY'S ISLAND, S.C. -- Senior Caleb Tidd fired his second 67 of the tournament on Tuesday as the Coker University men's golf team placed 8th of 22 teams, a mere nine shots back of the title, in the Spring Bulldog Clash.
Tidd's total of 67-71-67--205 (-5) earned him third place overall, which was his best collegiate finish. Blake Henriques of Shorter took medalist honors at -10 with rounds of 64, 70, and 66 on the par-70 layout
The field at the challenging Caledonia Golf & Fish Club included seven teams in the NCAA DII Top 25. Host Barton, ranked 23rd, carded rounds of 279-276-284 for a total of -1, edging No. 17 Columbus State and Newberry by two strokes. No. 11 Lander and No. 38 Shorter shot +2, No. 1 North Georgia and No. 5 USC Aiken came in at +4 and No. 21 Coker shot 284-283-281 for a +8 tournament total.
The Cobras were in sixth place after the first round and had moved up to third place in the second round Monday when play was called for darkness with about three holes left.
"We really had a good second round going when we had to stop," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "We went to bed at 3-under but had three holes left, and we played those final holes at 6-over, which really hurt our chances to win. We had a solid final round, but other teams went low, leaving us at the back of the pack of really good teams."
Tidd rolled in 13 birdies over the 54 holes, fourth best in the field. In the second round, he overcame a quadruple bogey and double bogey with five birdies to shoot 71.
"Caleb hit it great all week. Realistically, it was just a few swings that kept him from winning the event. He also played the three par 5s at 5-under. A pair of 68s from Jonathan Hallinger and Aaron Teece were our only other rounds under par this week."
Hackney added that it was also good to see super senior Killian Ryan getting his game back in gear.
Hallinger (74-68-72--214) was 32nd, Ryan (75-71-70--218) took 42nd, Teece (68-78-72--218) placed 53rd and junior Derek McGlaughlin (76-73-73--222) finished 70th in the 118-player field.
Coker had 181 pars, second-best in the tournament, but only had 38 birdies and an eagle by Ryan on Tuesday. The Cobras ranked third in par-3 scoring at even par and fourth in par-4 scoring, but were 15th in par-5 scoring at +3.
"Our play on the par 5s really hurt," Hackney said. "It's hard to win tournaments when you don't care of business on those holes."
The Cobras have two weeks off before playing in the Bobcat Invitational at the Cuscowilla Golf Club on March 18-19.