To begin this week, the Bruins traveled to Augusta, Georgia to compete in the NCCAA South Region Championship against Columbia International University, Paine College, and Toccoa Falls College. After two rounds, the Bruins finished third in the region.

"We had some goals for this tournament that we didn't reach, and faced some adversity that had to be overcome," Head Coach Denny Scott said afterwards.

Going into round one, many thought the tournament would have to be postponed due to weather, but the forecasted storm turned away. The course, though, was still very wet and made playing extremely challenging. The Bruins shot their highest score of the season in round one, much due to the conditions. Brandon Autry did not, however, struggle. He nearly went bogey-free with three birdies until he bogeyed hole 18 to finish the round two-under par and in the lead. Dakota Holt and Eli DeVaughn both got birdies late in the round that boosted them a little going into day two. Waller and Hairgrove both struggled early and had a hard time climbing back up, but everyone played well in round two.

"We knew the hole we dug in the first round was going to be difficult to climb out of and it became a little more difficult with a slow start in Round 2," said Coach Scott. "I could say that we took some encouragement and inspiration from the US Ryder Cup team and they obviously didn't quit when they were down, but ultimately fell just short of their goal as we did."

After the slow start to round two, each Bruins picked it up very well and continued to fight. The back nine of round two was great for the Bruins. Eli DeVaughn, especially shot well getting two birdies and no bogeys in that stretch. Both Hairgrove and Waller shot a much better round at +5 and +11, and with the exception of a quadruple bogey on hole two, Holt had a good round as well at +12. Birdies sprinkled the score card much more in round two than round one.

"Realistically, we knew it would be very difficult to catch CIU or Paine after shooting our highest score of the season in Round 1, but we thought we could position ourselves for consideration of an at-large bid for Nationals," Coach Scott said. "Time will tell."

Brandon Autry continues to show up big for the Bruins. Battling sickness, he shot -2 in round one and +2 in round two to win the individual region championship. "It was fantastic to have Brandon be the individual champion," said Coach Scott after Autry won. "He may be just the second Bruins golfer to accomplish this honor. He has worked so hard on his game and is such a deserving young man. He is a blessing to coach both on and off the course."



Full results for the NCCAA South Region Championship can be seen here.

Time will certainly tell if the Bruins team gets an at-large bid to the national tournament, but one thing is for sure; Brandon Autry will be representing the Bruins for the second straight year. 

Until then, the Bruins have two tournaments. The first of which is the Deercroft Fall Classic hosted by Columbia College on October 6-7 in Wagram, North Carolina.