Mount Olive golfers finish 7th

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 10, 2007 1:49 PM

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POOLER, Ga. -- Jonathan Greene and Scott Woodard tied for eighth out of 45 golfers and Mount Olive finished seventh among the Atlantic Region teams after final-round play Wednesday afternoon at the NCAA Division II Atlantic/Southeast Super Regional golf championship.

Greene and Woodard carded 54-hole scores of 241 to become the first players in Trojan golf history to finish in the top 10 at an NCAA championship.

"Jonathan and Scott had a great tournament," said Spiron. "It was exciting to see a sophomore and a freshman finish in the top 10."

Mount Olive carded the fifth-lowest team score of the day and finished with a three-round total of 343-322-325-690, 28 strokes ahead of eighth-place Limestone and only seven strokes behind sixth-place Anderson.

Belmont Abbey led wire-to-wire, finishing with a 955 on the 7,066-yard Savannah Quarters Country Club course, designed by Greg Norman.

Winds were not as heavy Wednesday as they were in the first two rounds, but still gusted at 25 miles per hour. Play was halted for 42 minutes during the early afternoon due to rain.

"This was a tough course, especially with the weather," said Spiron. "All of the scores were high this week."

Greene recorded three birdies in a span of six holes to make the turn with a 2-over-par 38. Greene had five pars on the second nine and finished with a 78 for the second consecutive day to overcome a first-round 85.

Woodard, one of two freshmen in the Trojan lineup, followed up back-to-back 81's with a 79, his best score of the tournament. Woodard played the back nine (holes 1-9) at 1-over-par 37, sinking a birdie on No. 8, the next-to-last hole of the tournament.

Johan Hagsund, also a freshman, tied for 25th with an 85-84-83--252. Hagsund played the back nine at 2-over-par and made par on nine of his final 12 holes.

Mick Moberg tied for 34th with a 92-79-85--256. Moberg overcame a tough start with consecutive birdies on 12 and 13 (third and fourth holes of the day), but ran into trouble on the back nine.

Chris Bitzenhofer finished 45th with a 94-89-100--283. Despite the score, the senior defined perseverance, making par on each of the final three holes in his final collegiate tournament.

After never having earned a berth in the NCAA II men's golf championship, Mount Olive has now advanced to NCAA postseason play each of the last two years.

"It's a great experience to compete in the NCAA championship," said Spiron. "We're still a young team and I feel we're capable of getting back here next year. Hopefully, we'll be able to build on this experience."