Patriot Golfers rally to 11th-place finish as #12 Mocs claim Aldila title

The Francis Marion University golf team, playing its first event of the season and its first competition since last week's tragic death of junior golfer Jonathan Lavin, rallied over the final two rounds on Tuesday (Sept. 9) to finish 11th at the Aldila Scenic City Invitational Tournament, hosted by the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee State University at the Council Fire Golf Club.

The host Mocs, ranked 12th in the Golfweek preseason rankings, cruised to the team title, winning by 14 shots after carding a record final-round of 266 (22-under par).  Augusta State University claimed second place

The Patriots were 16th after Monday's opening round, and 14th after the completion of the weather-delay second round.  FMU carded a final-round team score of 287 to finish with a 54-hole total of 871, only one shot behind 10th-place finisher Jacksonville State University, the opening round leader.

FMU sophomore Christopher Couch was the top Patriot finisher.  The Summerville native carded rounds of 3-under 69 and 2-under 70 on Tuesday to tie for 17th place at 212 (4-under par).  Senior Andrew Pitcher was one shot behind Couch and tied for 20th position (71-71-71=213).  Senior Peter McGibney tied for 51st (75-76-70=221), while senior Ronan O'Connor tied for 73rd (79-73-76=228) and sophomore Keith Crowley tied for 76th (79-73-77=229).

Southeastern Louisiana's Matt Carvell followed up his opening round 60 (12-under par) with rounds of 70 and 68 to walk away with medalist honors.  His three-day total of 18-under par 198 is a tournament record.

Francis Marion will return to action on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 15-16) when the Patriots host the 24th-annual Raines Development Group Intercollegiate at the Country Club of South Carolina.  The 54-hole event will have a field of 18 teams.

Aldila Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.

No.          School                                   Scores

1             Tenn.-Chattanooga            278, 275, 266= 819             -45

2             Augusta State U.                279, 279, 275= 833             -31

3             Wichita State Univ.             280, 287, 284= 851             -13

4             Southern Mississippi           285, 285, 284= 854             -10

5             North Florida, U. of             284, 288, 283= 855             -9

               Middle Tennessee St.         290, 283, 282= 855             -9

7             Oklahoma, U. of                 289, 287, 284= 860             -4

8             Southeastern La. U.           288, 289, 288= 865             +1

               Western Carolina U.           283, 288, 294= 865             +1

10           Jacksonville St.                   277, 300, 293= 870             +6

11           Francis Marion U.                298, 286, 287= 871             +7

12           Furman University              288, 292, 293= 873             +9

               Mercer University                291, 295, 287= 873             +9

14           Florida Gulf Coast U           293, 287, 296= 876             +12

15           Louisiana Tech Univ.          295, 292, 291= 878             +14

16           So. Florida, U. of                292, 291, 306= 889             +25