Posted: Apr 23, 2024
ORANGEBURG, SC -- Coker seniors Caleb Tidd and Jonathan Hallinger tied for medalist honors Tuesday in the South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championships, but it wasn't quite enough to propel the Cobras to the team title as nationally 2nd-ranked Lincoln Memorial surged from three shots back to clip Coker by 10 strokes at Orangeburg Country Club.
Tidd and Hallinger, who are roommates, went to a playoff to determine who got the individual trophy, and Tidd came out on top by sinking a 4-foot par putt as they replayed the 18th hole.
The 21st-ranked Cobras, who were tied for the lead after the first round and led LMU by three after the second round, only managed nine birdies in the final 18 holes, compared to 15 birdies and a rare albatross for the Railsplitters.
By winning, LMU earned an automatic berth to the NCAA DII South-Southeast Super Regional May 9-11 at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, GA. The Cobras, ranked 7th in the Southeast, expect to get an at-large bid later this week.
LMU finished 15-over par for three days at 295-280-280--855 while Coker came in at 288-284-293--865 (+25). Anderson finished third at 870, Carson-Newman was fourth at 871 and Wingate took fifth at 878 in the 13-team field.
LMU rallied to take a 1-stroke lead over Coker after six holes and maintained that lead after nine holes. The big shift came from LMU's Alex James, who had an incredible stretch from holes 9 to 12, when he went birdie, birdie, albatross (a 2 on a par 5), birdie for 6-under on a four-hole stretch. LMU played holes 10 to 12 8-under par while Coker was even par on that stretch.
"We just never got any great momentum going all day," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "We knew LMU, which has been ranked No. 2 for most of the year, was not going to go away easy, and we were in a tight battle until Alex went 6-under on that four-hole sequence. That was the dagger that killed our chances of capturing the title. Kudos to both Caleb and Jonathan. They both played some brilliant golf to emerge atop a field of outstanding players. I am really proud of both of them."
Tidd was 2-over through 6 holes on Tuesday, but he birdied holes 7, 10 and 11 to get back under par. Bogeys on 14 and 16 led to his 71. Hallinger birdied 1, 9, 11 and 13 en route to his 71. Tidd carded rounds of 68-72-71 for 211 and Hallinger shot 71-69-71--211.
Senior Killian Ryan posted a 75 Tuesday and senior Aaron Teece and junior Derek McGlaughlin each shot 6-over 76s for the Cobras on the par-70, 7,032-yard layout. McGlaughlin (76-71-76--223) and Ryan (76-72-75--223) tied for 23rd out of the 65 golfers and Teece, who played his back nine even-par on Tuesday, posted 73-78-76--227.
The Cobras finished second in par-3 scoring (+18), third in par-4 scoring (+30) and first in par-5 scoring (-3) for the tournament. Coker and LMU tied for the lead in birdies with 38 each.
"LMU was the top seed and we were the second seed, but we had the lead after 36 holes and really wanted to win the SAC Championship, but it just wasn't in the cards for us today," Hackney said. "LMU played a very difficult golf course at even par over the final 36 holes, so hats off to them. We are still playing some excellent golf and have a veteran team, and we believe we can do some damage in the NCAA Tournament next month because we have held our own with the nation's best teams all season."