The NCCAA South Region Tournament took place Monday and Tuesday, September 25-26 in Keysville, Georgia at the Applewood Golf Course. There the Bruins would compete against three other schools for the championship title. The Bruins were represented by Timmy Smith, Nicholas Smith, Spencer Cable, Peter Zhong, and Brandon Autry.
Starting off for the Bruins would be Nicholas and Timmy as they teed off Monday morning just before 10:00 a.m. Through the front nine, the team was playing well. Peter led the team at the turn with a score of 34 (2-under par with three birdies) followed by Spencer and Nicholas who were both sitting at even (36 with two birdies a piece). Not far behind was Timmy at 40 (+4 and a birdie) and Brandon with 41 (+5 and two birdies).
Throughout the first day, the Bruins played consistently. Nicholas would finish day one leading the Bruins with a score of 70 (2-under) with Peter coming in close behind with 71 (1-under). Timmy and Brandon both finished with 75 (+3). Closing out the day for the Bruins, Spencer would post his career best round finishing with a score of 76 (+4 and four birdies). After the first day, the Bruins say in 2nd place with a team score of 291. The 291 would score as a new school record for Round 1 of the NCCAA South Region Championship golf tournament.
"Round 1 was amazing and memorable as the team set a new school record team score," commented Head Coach Denny Scott. Commenting further he said, "interestingly, CIU also set a school record team score in Round 1. They shot a score of 287 edging us by just 4 strokes and taking the first round lead."
On Tuesday, Spencer would lead off the Bruins in Round 2 of the South Region Championship followed by Brandon and Timmy with Peter and Nicholas as the last two Bruins to start Round 2. Timmy would post the first birdie of the day on the par-4, 3rd hole to put him 1-under. Right after the turn, Brandon (+2) and Peter (+2) would both post a birdie on the par-5, 11th hole to get back to +1.
With such a close contest, the team knew that consistency was going to be key for how the rest of the tournament would go. The Bruins would fall a little behind, but would still post some respectable scores during Round 2 of the tournament. Timmy led the Bruins with a 73 (+1), followed by Peter at 74 (+2). Nick (75, +3), Brandon (76, +4), and Spencer (78, +6). The team finished Round 2 with a score of 298.
"We stayed close early in Round 2 and then made a solid run at CIU late, but it was too little too late," said Coach Scott. "When it appeared that we had captured the lead on holes 16 and 17, we just didn't finish as strong as we needed to in order to beat a very solid CIU team."
Despite a pair of rounds with really solid performances by the Bruins, they would come up short in the tournament falling to Columbia International University by a mere five strokes and would finish in 2nd place. The team is hopeful that they will receive an at-large bid to the NCCAA National Championship.
Along with the 2nd place as a team, a pair of Bruins also tied for 2nd place on the individual leaderboard. Nicholas Smith (70 & 75) and Peter Zhong (71 & 74) both shot 145 over the two day tournament. Only one person would score better than the pair of Bruins with an individual score of 143.
