April 22, 2008

Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship - Final Results

Southern Conference Men's Golf Photo Slideshow

Florence, S.C. - Western Carolina senior Matt Cook capped off his tournament rally by shooting 69 on Tuesday afternoon to win the individual medalist honors at the 2008 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship held at the par 72, 7,062-yard Country Club of South Carolina. In 21st-place after the opening round, Cook posted consecutive single-day low rounds of 67 and 69 to shoot eight-under over the final two days to charge to the front for the individual title.

The Catamounts carded the lowest score of the final round - and second-lowest of the tournament - to advance one position during Tuesday's final 18 holes to finish third overall, nine shots behind tournament champion, Chattanooga (290-281-294=865). Western's 286 was eight strokes better than any other squad on Tuesday, but it was not enough to overcome UTC's 17-stroke advantage entering the day. The College of Charleston edged WCU by a stroke to finish as the championship runner-up with a three-day total of 873.

Furman and UNC Greensboro finished tied for fourth at 889 to round-out the top five finishing schools at the tournament.

Following the event, the 10-member All-SoCon team was released with Cook joined by junior Andres Cuenca on the honorary squad marking back-to-back seasons the duo was recognized. It is just the fourth time in WCU history that two golfers made the all-conference team in the same year (1985, 1986, 2007, '08). Cook entered the tournament ranked fourth in scoring average, while Cuenca was 12th with an individual victory at the WCU Invitational this season.

Cook is one of three Catamounts all-time to have finished first at the conference event and the first-ever to have won multiple titles (2006, '08). He is also just the eighth SoCon golfer all-time to have claimed multiple individual championships.

Cook's three-day total of 211 tied the school-record low 54-hole score at the conference championship. En route to the low round, the Murphy, N.C., native twice posted the best round of the day, shooting a tournament-low 67 on Monday with 69 on Tuesday. He also paced the event with 16 birdies, five more than his closest competitor. He won by four strokes over UNC Greensboro's Nathan Stamey and second-round leader, UTC's Ben Rickett, who both shot 215.

Matt Cook won the 2008 SoCon Men's Golf Championship

In the final round, Cook started with four birdies on the front nine to make the turn at four-under. After a bogey on the par 4 tenth hole - one in which he had birdied the previous two times - and another on par 4 thirteenth, he rallied with two birdies on his next four holes, wrapping up his tournament with a bogey on No. 18.

WCU sophomore Ricky Stout, who led the Catamounts on the opening day, rallied from just outside the top 10 to finish sixth overall (70-75-72=217). A pair of birdies through his first five holes had the New Bern, N.C., native at two-under before two, one-over scores on No. 7 and No. 9 moved him back to even. Stout concluded his tournament with nine-straight pars to shoot even for the day.

Rounding out Western's scorers for the tournament was All-SoCon selection, Andres Cuenca, who rallied to finish tied for 22nd with an even-par, 72, on Tuesday. He finished with a 54-hole score of 224, one stroke ahead of freshman Caleb Marsh who shot 225 (76-76-73). Junior Dustin Furnari placed 30th overall with a three-day total of 228.

Both Cook and the Catamounts will now await their fortunes in hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Championships, which begins May 15-17. The announcement will be made the first week of May. Cook has twice earned individual at-large selections and will be looking for his school-record third. As a team, WCU played a very competitive schedule this season, posting six top five finishes including one team championship and two runner-ups, and nine in the top 10.

2008 Men's Golf All-Southern Conference:
Harrison Moore, College of Charleston
Jonathan Hodge, Chattanooga
Fredrik Qvicker, Chattanooga
Derek Rende, Chattanooga
Ben Rickett, Chattanooga
Jimmy Lytle, Elon
Ben Goforth, Furman
Nathan Stamey, UNC Greensboro
Matt Cook, Western Carolina
Andres Cuenca, Western Carolina

Player of the Year - Jonathan Hodge, Chattanooga
Freshman of the Year - Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year - Mark Guhne, Chattanooga