April 9, 2024
Cobras Finished 7th in Pensacola
PENSACOLA, FL -- After hovering around the top the leaderboard during Monday's 36-hole day, the Coker men's golf team faltered in Tuesday's high winds and placed 7th of 15 schools in the Argonaut Invitational.
Playing in the final group following an 8-under showing on Monday, the Cobras had a sluggish start Tuesday, played solidly in the middle of the round and then had poor finish to shoot 20-over par and fall behind a few teams that finished earlier at the Pensacola Country Club.
The loaded field included 11 teams in the top 25 of the NCAA DII rankings. Fourth-ranked Georgia Southwestern, which had a 5-shot lead over the Cobras heading into Tuesday's play, shot 3-under to finish at 16-under for 54 holes, six shots clear of runner-up North Georgia, the nation's No. 1 team. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma Christian took third at -7, 17th-ranked West Florida (the host) was fourth at -3 and West Florida's B team placed fifth at +9. No. 26 Columbus State fired +2 in the wind to rally to sixth place at +1, one shot ahead of 23rd-ranked Coker. No. 2 Lincoln Memorial was one back of Coker at +13.
The Cobras, who posted rounds of 283-285-308 (876) also beat No. 7 Lee by five strokes and No. 21 Shorter by 12. Payne Sells of Georgia Southwestern was the medalist at 9-under after rounds of 66-71-70.
"It was just a very disappointing showing for us today," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "We played some stellar golf on Monday but laid an egg today. We did not get off to a good start on some getable holes and found ourselves falling from second to fifth in just five or six holes. The guys settled in from there before a few poor swings in the wind really cost us and led to big numbers down the stretch.
"I was really hoping we were going to push through and win this week, but we evidently need to fine-tune a few more things to make that happen. Our guys are good. They showed that for 36 holes, but in the end, it's about the complete body of work for 54 holes. We did beat several high-ranked teams, but that's not much consolation when you were in contention to win."
Senior Jonathan Hallinger (72-69-74--215) did the best at conquering the course and elements for the Cobras. He played his last 13 holes at 2-under to shoot 74 and tie for 13th at -1. He hit 10 of 14 fairways, 11 of 18 greens, was 3-of-7 in up-and-downs and needed 31 putts. The Cobras had three 3-putts as a team, but averaged hitting 9.5 fairways and 10 greens. Coker was just 12-for-36 in getting up and down when missing greens.
Junior Derek McGlaughlin, who had his best day as a Cobra Monday when he shot 71-68 with 10 birdies, posted a 78 on Tuesday to finish 22nd at +1 overall.
Senior Caleb Tidd (68-75-79--222), super senior Killian Ryan (74-73-77--224) and senior Aaron Teece (72-80-81--233) rounded out the scoring for the Cobras.
Coker will play in the South Atlantic Conference Championships April 21-23 at the Orangeburg Country Club.