BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Yannick Schütz recorded his second top-10 finish of the season to pace the University of South Alabama men's golf team at the Graeme McDowell Invitational, which concluded Wednesday at the Greystone Golf & Country Club Founders Course.
The redshirt senior shot a 2-under-par 70 in each of the first two rounds on the opening day of play, ending the event with a 2-under-par 214 54-hole score to tie for sixth place in the individual standings. Dawson Atkinson fired a 3-under-par 69 on the last day to end up in the top 20 individually, four shots behind Schütz.
Host UAB was the team champion, using a 4-under-par 284 total in the last round to best Georgia Southern by a five-stroke margin after posting a 54-hole score of 11-under-par 853. The Jaguars carded a 293 total on the last day of play to climb two spots into a tie for seventh in the final team standings with an 883 total.
Guillaume Fanonnel of ULM earned medalist honors with a 10-under-par 206 score over two days after shooting 67 in each of the last two rounds.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Graeme McDowell Invitational (UAB)
Dates: 9/29-30 (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Course: Greystone Golf & Country Club Founders Course (par 72, 7,299 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=21437
Final Results
TEAM SCORES
1) UAB 285-284-284—853 (-11); 2) Georgia Southern 280-286-292—858; 3) ULM 284-292-286—861; 4) Middle Tennessee 291-284-288—863; 5) Coastal Carolina 284-286-294—864; 6) Louisiana 285-293-289—867; T7) South Alabama 298-292-293—883; T7) Augusta 291-292-300—883; 9) Troy 287-300-297—884; 10) Southern Mississippi 305-297-297—899.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Andoni Etchenique, ULM 72-67-67—206 (-10); 2) Mason Williams, GS 68-70-72—210; T3) Andoni Etchenique, ULM 71-72-69—212; T3) William Walker III, UAB 69-71-72—212; T3) Nick Robillard, UAB 75-71-66—212; T6) Yannick Schütz, USA 70-70-74—214; T6) Michael Barnard, MT 71-71-72—214; T6) Colin Bowles, GS 72-69-73—214; T9) Charlie Flynn, ULL 69-75-71—215; T9) Alex van Wyk, AU 75-71-69—215.
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T6) Yannick Schütz 70-70-74—214 (-2); T20) Dawson Atkinson 76-73-69—218; T41) Jordan Plunkett 76-75-76—227; T41) Eli Mitchell 76-77-74—227; T51) Jacob LeCroy 77-78-76—231; T63) Kyle Robinson 83-74-80—237.
TEE SHOTS
-The field this week included 10 teams and 69 individuals.
-As a group, the Jaguars played the course's par-five holes at 4-under par over the three rounds.
-The two top-10 results for Schütz this semester equal the total he has recorded each of the last two seasons.
-He carded 12 birdies over 54 holes — with half of those coming in the second round — while finishing tied for third in the field after going 7 under on par-five holes.
-It was the first time since March 2018 that Schütz has posted a three-round total below par in back-to-back events.
-Atkinson has now placed among the top 20 individually in four of his last six appearances dating back to last September.
-The junior tied for the tournament lead with 13 birdies and was among the top 10 in the field with a 4-under-par total on the course's par fives as his final-round score was one shy of equaling the lowest of his career.
-Both Plunkett and Mitchell recorded multiple birdies in all three rounds of the event.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the team's performance at the tournament: "Unfortunately, we were in a big hole after starting out so poorly. Yesterday was a better day — really, our last two rounds were close to being pretty solid team golf — especially under conditions that were much harder with the swirling wind and pins in the last round. At the first event at LA Tech, we got contributions from everyone in the lineup and this week we didn't, and that's really the difference in the standings. Individually Yannick had another consistent performance and Dawson's 69 yesterday was really good golf, especially with the conditions."
On the play of Yannick Schütz the first day: "It's the first time we've seen the course and it's a driver's golf course, which plays into Yannick's strength; he was really in complete control on Tuesday. He had good speed on the greens, took advantage of the par fives and controlled his irons which helped him get off to a solid start the first two rounds."
On he wants to work on going into the last event of the fall: "We've got a little over a week to prepare, so we'll get back into qualifying and look for competitive scores from the group while we continue to focus on individual needs in preparation for the final event of the fall."
Up next: The final tournament of the fall season for South is the Intercollegiate at the Grove, with Middle Tennessee slated to host the event Oct. 12-13.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.
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