March 8, 2009

Final Ron Smith USF Invitational Results in PDF Format

DADE CITY, Fla. - The Baylor men's golf team bounced back from a tough second round, posting a final-round rally that would fall just short as the Bears finish fifth at the Ron Smith USF Invitational Sunday.

Baylor, ranked No. 41 in the latest Golfstat NCAA Division I Head-to-Head standings, shot 4-under during the final round, the second-best score on the day. The Bears finished at 1-under 863 - one stroke behind Louisville for fourth place (2-under 862) and two shots behind Middle Tennessee for third place (3-under 861). Big 12 member Texas Tech and NCAA Division II power Florida Southern shared the team title with a 6-under 858.

Texas Tech's Santiago Rivas and Florida Southern's Matt Stauch shared individual medalist honors after each carded a 9-under 207 on the weekend.

"We were not playing well at first on Friday," Baylor head men's golf coach Greg Priest said. "But, we managed to get it back together. However, we didn't play very well at all in the second round.

"Today, we came out and got a good start early, especially Bill who played well all day," Priest said. "We let it get away, but we were able to regroup."

Senior Bill Allcorn, freshman Joakim Mikkelsen and sophomore Cody Paladino finished tied for seventh at 2-under. Allcorn fired a final-round 5-under 67 to post his third top 10 finish this season. Mikkelsen shot a 1-under par 71 Sunday; he has now recorded two under-par rounds in three tournaments during his rookie campaign.

After an impressive 3-under 69 in the opening round, Paladino shot an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish tied with Allcorn and Mikkelsen.

"We expect to play how we did today," Pries said. "Chalk it up to being rusty last week, but this is how we need to play every week. We need to keep getting better and better."

Redshirt freshman Lorenzo Scotto carded a 3-under 69 in Sunday's final round to negate his rough first-round start Friday. Scotto finished at 1-under 217, good enough for 22nd place. Newcomer Morten Bergan finished tied for 52nd overall at 5-over 221 after a shooting a 2-over 74 Sunday.

Junior Colton Williams, who was returning to action after a knee injury sidelined him last week, finished the weekend tied for 93rd overall at 13-over 229.

The Baylor men's golf team returns to the links Friday, March 13-Saturday, March 14 when the Bears participate in the 2009 Border Olympics at the Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas. Baylor finished tied for fourth last season, while Williams took home medalist honors.

RON SMITH USF INVITATIONAL (Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club; Dade City, Fla.)
Sunday, March 8, 2009 (after final round)

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (BAYLOR)
t7	Joakim Mikkelsen	71	72	71	214	-2
t7	Cody Paladino	69	73	72	214	-2
t7	Bill Allcorn	74	73	67	214	-2
t22	Lorenzo Scotto (I)	76	72	69	217	+1
t52	Morten Bergan	72	75	74	221	+5
t93	Colton Williams	75	77	77	229	+13

TEAM STANDINGS
t1	[10] Texas Tech	285	289	284	858	-6
t1	[4**] Florida Southern	286	289	283	858	-6
3	Middle Tennessee	285	286	290	861	-3
4	[37] Louisville	283	290	289	862	-2
5	[41] BAYLOR  	286	293	284	863	-1
6	Marquette	283	287	294	864	E
7	Troy	290	281	295	866	+2
t8	Eastern Michigan	284	289	296	869	+5
t8	[3**] Columbus State	285	290	294	869	+5
t10	Missouri State	281	300	291	872	+8
t10	Austin Peay	284	295	293	872	+8
12	Jacksonville State	289	290	295	874	+10
13	Missouri	285	295	296	876	+12
14	Xavier	292	297	292	881	+17
15	South Alabama	293	302	294	889	+25
16	USF	300	286	305	891	+27
17	Arkansas State	286	302	304	892	+28
18	DePaul	296	297	302	895	+31
19	ULM	294	301	306	901	+37
20	Rhode Island	307	292	305	907	+43
21	Seton Hall	308	300	302	911	+47
22	Connecticut	301	312	314	927	+63
23	Cincinnati	311	309	312	932	+68

**(3) Columbus State and (4) Florida Southern are ranked in the Golfstat NCAA Division II Head-to-Head Standings