BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The No. 6-ranked Georgia Southwestern State University men's golf team saw its season come to an end Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship quarterfinals, falling 4-1 to No. 2-ranked Lee University in medal match play at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
The Hurricanes reached medal match play for the third time in the past six seasons after posting a fifth-place finish in stroke play earlier this week. Georgia Southwestern closed the championship at 17-under par through 54 holes, highlighted by a final-round 13-under 275 that was two strokes shy of the best 18-hole score in program history.
Lee claimed four of the five individual matches Thursday against a GSW lineup featuring three nationally ranked golfers in No. 12-ranked Sam Brown, No. 20-ranked Jordan Jones and No. 22-ranked Sacha Corlouer. The Flames countered with No. 1-ranked Drew Zielinski and No. 10 Bennett McNabb.
Starting on Hole No. 10, the Hurricanes battled throughout the morning, but Lee steadily pulled away in several tightly contested matches.
Jones earned GSW's lone point of the day with a dominant 9-up victory over Tucker Wick. The sophomore fired a tournament-best 7-under 65, recording eight birdies. Despite birdieing four of his first five holes, it wasn't until the final nine where he built a commanding lead..Jones was 1-up at the turn.
Brown went toe-to-toe with McNabb before falling 4-up in one of the marquee matchups of the quarterfinals. Brown briefly rallied to square the match with six holes to play, but McNabb responded late to secure the point for Lee.
Oscar Hammar dropped a competitive 2-up decision to Billy Boroughs despite carding a 3-under 69, while Corlouer fell 2-up against George Cordall in another tightly contested match that remained close throughout the day. Corlouer grabbed the lead with four holes remaining but was unable to hang on.
The final match came between Stefan Rojas and Zielinski, the nation's No. 1-ranked golfer. Rojas battled throughout the round and held the advantage on four different occasions before Zielinski grabbed his first lead of the match on the final hole of the afternoon with the team result already decided for a 1-up victory.
The Hurricanes' season comes to a close after another deep postseason run, marking the third time in the past six seasons Georgia Southwestern has advanced to medal match play and finished among the final eight teams standing at the NCAA Division II National Championships.