DeLand, Fla. ? A pair of Hatters recorded top 10 finishes to lead the Stetson men's golf team to third place overall at the Stetson/CFSC Invitatonal Monday and Tuesday at Victoria Hills Country Club. Sophomore Dave McAndrew (Barrington, R.I.) placed seventh while senior Brenden Kennedy (Newport, N.H.) tied for ninth.
McAndrew shot consistent rounds of 73-75-76 to come in at +8 for the two-day, 54-hole event. Kennedy's scores were 73-75-78 = +10 on the par-72 layout at VHCC. Junior Tommy Parker (Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin HS) shot a team-best 73 in the final round, combining that score with his rounds of 74 and 80 on Monday to tie for 12th, one shot behind Kennedy. Seniors Kris Stewart (Edgewater, Fla./New Smyrna Beach HS) and Steven Neidermire (Medfield, Mass.) rounded out the Hatter contingent; Stewart finished 29th with rounds of 78-75-81=+18 while Neidermire shot 84-84-76=+28 to take 39th.
Atlantic Sun foe Florida Gulf Coast won the team championship at 16 over par on the strength of the efforts of individual runner-up Daniel Mazziotta (+2) and third place finisher Robert Taylor (+5). Bethune-Cookman took second place 25 strokes behind FGCU and one shot ahead of the Hatters (+42). Stetson, in turn, beat out fourth place USC Upstate by one stroke as well. The rest of the field was Rollins (+48), Creighton (+60), Florida Atlantic (+61), Florida A&M (+84) and South Carolina State (+101). Josh Gallman of USC Upstate won the individual title at four under par (75-69-68).
The tournament marked the end of Stetson's fall schedule; Head Coach Bob Weickel and his Hatters now turn their attention to their spring slate and improving their games in time for the 2008 Atlantic Sun conference championship, to be contested in Braselton, Ga. April 21-23.
