GULF SHORES, Ala. | South Alabama finished three shots off the lead after firing a final round 283 – its lowest score of the tournament – to finish at even-par (864).
The Jags finished just three shots behind eventual winner Texas State who finished at 3-under (861) and finished nine shots ahead of third-place Western Kentucky at 9-over (873). They also finished 12 shots ahead of Loyola Maryland and 14 shots ahead of Rice to round out the top five.
Jordan Plunkett led the Jags, finishing tied for second after a final round 71 to finish just one shot off the lead at 4-under (212). He finished tied with Nic Holman of Western Kentucky, just one shot behind eventual winner Colin Sikkenga of Oakland at 5-under (211).
Jacob LeCroy finished tied for sixth at 1-under (215), while
Jack Hearn finished tied for 15th at 2-over (218).
Kevin Dahlberg rounded out the top 20 for the Jags by finishing tied for 17th overall at 3-over (219).
Tournament Information
Event (host): Craft Farms Invitational (South Alabama)
Dates: Mar. 26 – Mar. 27 (Sunday-Monday)
Course: Craft Farms GC – Cotton Creek
Team Scores
(1) Texas State 285-286-290-861 (-3), (2) South Alabama 291-290-283-864 (Even), (3) Western Kentucky 297-297-279-873 (+9), (4) Loyola Maryland 290-292-294-876 (+12), (5) Rice 294-293-291-878 (+14), (6) Oral Roberts 294-295-290-879 (+15), (7) Georgia State 299-293-296-888 (+24), (t8) Oakland 299-300-290-889 (+25), (t8) Illinois State 298-296-295-889 (+25), (10) Bradley 300-304-289-893 (+29), (11) DePaul 297-308-292-897 (+33), (12) Tennessee Tech 300-304-296-900 (+36), (13) Southern Indiana 305-306-291-902 (+38), (14) Samford 297-316-305-918 (+54).
Individual Leaders
(1) Colin Sikkenga (Oakland) 70-72-69-211 (-5), (t2) Nic Holman (Western Kentucky) 73-72-67-212 (-4), (t2)
Jordan Plunkett (South Alabama) 69-72-71-212 (-4), (t4) Blake Benson (Rice) 75-69-70-214 (-2), (t4) Jack Burke (Texas State) 71-72-71-214 (-2), (t6) Rocco Repetto-Taylor (Oral Roberts) 71-73-71-215 (1), (t6)
Jacob LeCroy (South Alabama) 75-71-69-215 (-1), (t6) James Rico (Loyola Maryland) 75-69-71-215 (-1), (t9) Jared Strathe (Oral Roberts) 71-75-70-216 (even), (t9) Gustavo Rangel (Loyola Maryland) 71-75-70-216 (even), (t9) Tom Reed Karlsen (Texas State) 73-71-72-216 (even).
South Alabama Scores
(t2)
Jordan Plunkett 69-72-71-212 (-4), (t6)
Jacob LeCroy 75-71-69-215 (-1), (t15)
Jack Hearn 74-73-71-218 (+2), (t17)
Kevin Dahlberg* 77-70-72-219 (+3), (t30)
Hugo Thyr 76-74-72-222 (+6), (t30)
James Skeet* 78-71-73-222 (+6), (t30)
Will Skipp 73-74-75-222 (+6), (t43)
Eli Mitchell 78-71-76-225 (+9).
Quotable from head coach Ben Hannan ...
Team responded well after last week, finishing second this week... Sum up the play...
"It was a good week and we played some excellent golf in stretches. Really proud of the guys and especially the last round where they played so solidly shooting -5 under as a team putting a lot of pressure on Texas State coming in. Credit to them, they played #17 four under on the last day as a group and that was enough to seal the win."
The final round, the Jags made a charge up the leaderboard. Had to be good to see this late in the year heading into conference play soon...
"Looking at the numbers, we played some really good golf this week. We led in par 5 scoring which is something we've been talking about, so that was good to see. We still need to manage some of the emotion and decision-making to clean up a few of the controllable mistakes that lead to big numbers and bogie stretches. If we can get better at that, we will be in a good position to compete every week."
Talk about the play of Jordan, finishing a shot back...
"Jordan played so solid all week. Really happy for him because he has been working hard on being patient and staying present and making good decisions with target selections. Linger Longer a few weeks back was a positive stepping stone for him which I think carried into this week. He didn't beat himself with his decision making and was so patient this week. He was in complete control under hard conditions and really only a few putts away from winning."
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