Cobra golfers finish 10th

Playing the par-70 Golf Club at Cuscowilla layout, widely regarded and respected as one the Southeast's toughest courses, the nationally 21st-ranked Cobras fired an 8-over par round of 288 Tuesday.

The tournament featured 10 of the top 21 teams in NCAA DII golf. Coker was in 11th place of 15 teams entering Tuesday's round. After a shotgun start that was delayed by frost, the Cobras played the toughest part of the course at just 3-over par to climb two spots early in the round but were unable to post enough birdies later to keep the momentum.

"Cuscowilla is a beast and it reared its head against some awfully good players this week," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "Three things cost us a chance at finishing on top: too many 3-putts (30) on the slick, undulating greens; a poor second round where we only had eight birdies; and par-5 scoring (+5). Every team had a bunch of 3-putts on those greens but that is giving up a lot of shots to the field. We only had 26 birdies and one eagle for the event, which is really low for us, but that's a testament to how tough this course can play. By contrast, the winners had 48 birdies and two eagles."

Sixth-ranked Georgia SouthWestern was the only team to go under par on Tuesday at -1 279, which gave it a 7-shot victory over No. ! North Georgia and No. 10 Florida Southern. Georgia SW finished at +11 for 54 holes. Coker shot rounds of 290-297-288--875 (+35).

Seniors Jonathan Hallinger and Caleb Tidd paced the Cobras Tuesday with 1-over rounds of 71. Senior Aaron Teece came in at 72 with a round that included four birdies. Junior Derek McGlaughlin couldn't get any putts to fall and parred 12 of his first 13 holes before finishing with a 74. Super senior Killian Ryan added a 77.

McGlaughlin and Tidd tied for sixth in the field with 36 pars apiece. Teece had the Cobras' only eagle from a hole-out on No. 17 Monday.

Tidd, who was coming off a third-place finish in the previous tournament, continued his strong play and finished 11th at 69-75-71--215. Teece was 32nd at 74-74-72--220,  Hallinger took 37th at 76-74-71--221, Ryan finished 49th at 72-74-77--223 and McGlaughlin placed 59th at 75-76-74--225.

Only two of the 81 players broke par for 54 holes. North Georgia's Will Chambless carded -2 and won by one stroke over Florida Southern's Adam Alvarez.

"We are playing some really solid golf, but we need to make more birdies if we hope to push past the other ranked teams," Hackney said. "We all feel like it's coming soon."

The Cobras play in the Tennessee River Rumble next Monday and Tuesday at WindRiver in Lenoir City, TN.