PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2011) - ETSU senior Paul O'Kane (Castledawson, Northern Ireland) tied his season best with a 3-under par 69 to lead the Bucs to a ninth place finish at the JU Invitational hosted by Mark McCumber on Tuesday afternoon.
O'Kane put together the best round of the tournament by an ETSU player with his steady final round. He finished the afternoon with a bogey-free round that included three birdies and 15 pars. O'Kane led the Bucs with a tie for 14th finish at five-over (78-74-69—221) on the Players Course at TPC Sawgrass.
The Bucs steadily improved as a team throughout the event as they improved by nine strokes after round one and eight strokes following round two. ETSU shot a final round 295 to move up the leaderboard and inside the top-ten. The Bucs finished the event with a 46-over (312-303-295—910) total in the 15-team field.
Top-ranked Florida earned the wire-to-wire victory as they were the only team to shoot under-par for the tournament. The Gators finished the event at 6-under (286-283-289—858), 25 strokes better than second place finisher North Florida, who finished at 19-over (300-286-297—883). Jacksonville State and No. 42 Liberty tied for third at 22-over, while No. 40 Clemson rounded out the top-five at 24-over.
Bank Vonvanij, the nation's top-ranked player from Florida, won the individual title at 5-under overall. Vonvanij was one of just six players in the 75-player field to finish in red numbers for the tournament. Robert Karlsson of Liberty finished just two strokes back at 3-under, while Corbin Mills of Clemson and Kevin Phelan of North Florida came in at 2-under. Evan Beck of Wake Forest and Phillip Choi of Florida were the only other players in red numbers as both finished at 1-under overall.
ETSU freshman Spencer Lawson (Raleigh, N.C.) finished the tournament tied for 24th at 10-over (75-75-76—226), while junior Devin Komline (Dorset, Vermont) finished tied for 53rd at 20-over (88-72-76—236).
Patrick Spraggs (Rochford, England) and newcomer Lucas Armstrong (Church Hill, Tennessee) finished tied for 57th and tied for 59th to round out the ETSU scoring. Spraggs finished at 22-over (82-82-74—238), while Armstrong finished a stroke back at 23-over (77-82-80—239).
ETSU returns to action Feb. 20-22 when they travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Classic.
For more information on the ETSU men's golf team please go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf link. Also, be sure to follow ETSU Athletics on Facebook and Twitter.
JU Invitational
Players Course at TPC Sawgrass
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Par 72, 7122 yards
Final Results
Team Scores
1. No. 1 Florida 286-283-289-858
2. North Florida 300-286-297-883
3. No. 42 Liberty 300-290-296-886
3. Jacksonville State 294-298-294-886
5. No. 40 Clemson 303-297-288-888
6. No. 21 Wake Forest 301-296-297-894
7. Mercer 301-297-306-904
8. No. 43 East Carolina 305-298-302-905
9. ETSU 312-303-295-910
10. Florida Gulf Coast 304-304-308-916
11. Charleston Southern 307-310-306-923
12. Georgia State 314-310-304-928
13. Jacksonville 311-306-316-933
14. James Madison 313-321-299-933
- Old Dominion 322-295-DNF-DNF
Individual Leaders
1. Bank Vongvanij, Florida 69-69-73-211
2. Robert Karlsson, Liberty 72-72-69-213
T3. Corbin Mills, Clemson 71-73-70-214
T3. Kevin Phelan, UNF 74-69-71-214
T5. Evan Beck, Wake Forest 71-70-74-215
T5. Phillip Choi, Florida 71-72-72-215
ETSU Results
T14. Paul O'Kane 78-74-69-221
T24. Spencer Lawson 75-75-76-226
T53. Devin Komline 88-72-76-236
T57. Patrick Spraggs 82-82-74-238
T59. Lucas Armstrong 77-82-80-239
