OCALA, Fla. – Jack Hiluta ended his four-year career with the University of South Alabama men’s golf program by shooting a 3-under-par 69 Saturday in the final round of the NCAA Southeast-Florida Regional.

The score — his lowest at the three-day tournament — tied for the fourth lowest in an NCAA round in program history, giving him a 54-hole score of 2-under-par 214.  That total is tied for fifth-lowest in the school’s record books as well.

Hiluta ended the regional tied for 17th place in the field of 75 players after moving up 12 spots in the individual standings.

“Today, I just made better decisions,” he observed.  “Coach and I talked about it last night, and he said I that I should stick to what I was doing; if I was going to make a bad swing, it was only going to a bad swing and not a bad decision.  That helped me a lot.”

“Jack was just focusing on staying in the present with each shot,” Jaguar head coach Ben Hannan commented.  “He was swinging the club well enough and hit enough good shots all week that if he was able to do that, he was more than likely going to play a very good round, which he did today.”

Hiluta began the day at the par-72, 6,994-yard Golden Ocala Golf Club on the 10th hole, falling to 2 over after a double bogey at the par-five No. 12.  Two holes later, however, he got a stroke back with a three at the 400-yard 14th, though his round turned around at No. 17 — it was there that Hiluta used a wedge to hole out from 132 yards from a bunker, with one foot out of the trap.

With a birdie on the next hole, Hiluta made the turn at 2-under par.  He added back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, as he was 1-under over his final nine holes.

“I got off to a sticky start, but then I got into it,” explained Hiluta.  “The eagle and the birdie back-to-back got my round going a little bit.”

For the week, Hiluta tied for the tournament lead with 15 birdies, and he also finished among top 10 in scoring average on par-four holes.

With his effort the last three days, Hiluta posted a season scoring average of 71.79 and a career 72.82 figure; both those totals rank in the top five in the school’s record books dating back to 1992-93.  He leaves USA as one of just five individuals to be named all-Sun Belt Conference on at least three occasions, and he is one of only eight student-athletes to win multiple tournaments dating back to the 1985-86 campaign.

“My goal when I came in was to get better at golf, and I think that I did that,” Hiluta said.  ““If I can, I hope to give back to the program as much as coach has given to me over four years, because I wouldn’t have had that kind of career without his help.  There’s no way I would have been able to play as well as I have for the last four years without coach.

“It means a lot, because I’m proud to be a Jag and I always will be.  It was nice to go out on this kind of note.”

No. 1 seed Florida — the first-round leader — used an 11-under-par 277 over the last 18 holes to win the regional with an 18-under-par 846 total.  Second-seeded Augusta State, the defending national champion, placed second six shots behind the Gators, with No. 8 seed Kennesaw State (853), fifth-seeded North Carolina State (855) and Arkansas (856), the third seed, all also advancing to the NCAA Championships, which will begin May 31 in Stillwater, Okla.

Jace Long of Missouri fired a 10-under-par 62, locking up an individual berth to the NCAA Championships with a 54-hole 10-under-par 206 score; he shared medalist honors with ASU’s Patrick Reed and Mitchell Sutton of N.C. State.

“Jack had a very good round today, it was a great finish to a great career at South Alabama,” said Hannan.  “I’m very happy for Jack and the way he played this entire event.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—

NCAA Southeast-Florida Regional
Golden Ocala Golf Club, Ocala, Fla.
Par 72, 6,994 yards
Team Scores: 1) Florida 282-287-277—846 (-18); 2) Augusta State 290-275-287—852; 3) Kennesaw State 290-281-282—853; 4) North Carolina State 284-285-286—855; 5) Arkansas 283-287-286—856; 6) Missouri 294-290-274—858; 7) Baylor 284-286-289—859; 8) Georgia Southern 285-286-289—860; 9) Notre Dame 288-290-287—865; T10) Central Florida 298-286-289—873; T10) Oregon 285-291-297—873; T10) Southeastern Louisiana 290-283-300—873; 13) Jacksonville State 294-292-318—904; 14) Jackson State 325-311-307—943.

Individual Leaders: T1) Patrick Reed, ASU 72-67-67—206 (-10); T1) Mitchell Sutton, NCSU 68-67-71—206; T1) Jace Long, UM 73-71-62—206; 4) Andres Echavarria, UF 71-68-68—207; 5) Rhys West, SLU 73-65-70—208; T6) Jeff Karlsson, KSU 73-69-67—209; T6) Payne Gniewek, BU 71-69-69—209; T6) Bank Vongvanij, UF 68-72-69—209; T6) Logan Blondell, GSU 69-71-69—209; T10) Philipp Westernmann, SLU 67-69-74—210; T10) Niall Platt, ND 68-69-73—210.

South Alabama Scores: T17) Jack Hiluta 71-74-69—214 (-2).