After two days of competition, the Bob Jones University Bruins fell to the Columbia International University Rams at the 11th annual Competitor's Cup golf competition to wrap up their Spring season.
The two schools played a Ryder Cup style tournament on Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7, at the Greer Golf Club in Greer, South Carolina. The two-day tournament got underway on Monday morning with three four-ball matches in the morning, followed by three foursome (alternate shot) matches in the afternoon. On each hole, each team counted the lowest score, and the team whose player had the lowest score won the hole, receiving a full point. If the low scores were tied at the hole, half a point was given to each team.
The Bruins got out to a strong start and were able to take the early 2-1 lead after the opening four-ball match session. On Monday afternoon, the Rams came back to take all three of the foursome matches to lead with a score of 4-2 after the first day of competition.
On Tuesday, seven Bruins players were paired with a golfer from CIU to begin the single matches in the final day of the Competitor's Cup.
"Our strategy going into day two was to front load the lineup a bit and try to capture a full point in at least three of the first five matches," said Head Coach Denny Scott.
The team was on their way to hitting that goal as DJ Waller earned the first point of the day for the Bruins with a five and four win in his singles match. Dakota Holt finished his match strong on the final two holes to add another point for BJU after being one down on the 16th hole.
CIU grabbed two more points as Connor Hairgrove and Eli DeVaughn battled hard but were unable to win their matches.
With three more players still on the course, the Bruins looked to finish strong. Bryce Coursen won his match on the 17th hole to keep the Bruins in the contest, but Lee Earl Jackson then dropped his match, allowing CIU to claim the cup.
Brandon Autry played through to the 18th hole but lost it to wrap up the competition with a final score of 8-5 in favor of Columbia International University.
"All things considered, our guys played very well against a strong and deep Rams squad who placed third at Nationals last fall," said Scott. "We persevered through some adversity and rose to the challenge on day two. There were definitely a couple of moments on Tuesday when there was a chance to capture the cup back. However, the Rams made some huge putts to shut the door on our comeback."
Scott continued saying, "the seniors provided some great leadership, and the younger guys showed solid promise for the future. In spite of the disappointment of not being able to bring the cup back home, there were some positive takeaways to build on for the future."
The team will look to continue to build as they look ahead to the start of the 2026 Fall season.
