PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Stetson men's golf closed out an unprecedented single-semester rise with a 21-under par performance overtaking three teams for a second-place finish at the White Sands Invitational Sunday afternoon. While the rankings will be finalized for the semester Wednesday to give an exact number, the Hatters have had the biggest single-season ranking improvement in NCAA history.

"Obviously, we went down there coming off a win with the intentions to win," head coach Danny Forshey said "we put ourselves in a hole after the second round, but I am extremely proud with how the guys fought the last round to surge up that leaderboard to get second place. That was big for us. We feel we're one of the best teams in the country and we showed that in the last round by putting together a big round on the board when we needed it."

The Hatters used a brilliant final round to cap off an eventful week. Combined with Tuesday's Daytona Beach Intercollegiate score, Stetson shot 53 under par, which may be the best single-week span of golf in program history.

For the tournament itself, Stetson was red-hot from the momentum generated by the win at the DBI. Round one, the Hatters were in third and three strokes behind the lead, but the concentration slipped, and Stetson fell behind in the second. With a masterful rebound and the motivation to make up for a substandard second round and show the true team colors, the Hatters combined for an eight-under final round to climb three spots into second place, which capped off one of the best semesters in program history.

Stetson faced off with two ranked opponents at the WSI beating 44th-ranked Southern Mississippi, along with 10-of-12 teams. With the removal of the second-round scores, Stetson would have been trailing by five strokes in second place with the nearest competitor behind them trailing by six strokes.

"When you're starting to play high-level golf with high-level competition, you can't afford a bad day," Forshey continued "We had a bad day, we shot two under in the second round. We shot 11 under [in the first round], which probably could have been 13 under, then shoot two under and you get lapped. This was the first time we've kind of been in a hole after two rounds, but we showed who we are. We came back as far as we could, so I am happy with that. I don't know what would have happened [as far as closing the gap to first place] but I know if we did a restart and had to play them again, we aren't scared of them. I feel like we can play with them, and they got the better of us this week, but our mentality is that we want a rematch. That is what this team is all about."

Junior Matt Gauntlett continued his outstanding semester with another tournament with two scores in the 60s, 68-70-69. The reigning ASUN golfer of the week sunk 17 birdies, with six in both rounds two and three. At the end of the tournament, Gauntlett was in a four-way tie for sixth, three strokes off the single's winner.

"Great experience with the guys to round off the semester," Gauntlett said, "Some lessons learned which can be used to build on over the off season so we can be ready to go for the spring."

John Houchin was struggled a bit on the course before locking in for an opening round 68. The junior started his day on the sixth hole hitting even twice before a bogey on the ninth hole, but the Merritt Island, Florida, native was laser-focused the rest of the day sinking birdies on 11, 14 and five with an eagle on 13. The run continued with a two-under second round, four birdies. Houchin struggled and was four over on the third day by the eighth hole before taking back two to finish plus two on the day.

"Our good play this fall is only a small sign of what's to come," John Houchin said "this group's potential is good, if not better than any team in the country. We need to continue work and learn from this season and get better."

Truman Keppy opened with a 69 in round one after very even-keeled round. The redshirt sophomore nailed three birdies in the first nine holes he played to open his tournament. The Lakemoor, Illinois, native pushed it to five under, but a pair of bogeys gave the final round score of three under. Keppy was steady throughout the tournament, and finished the tournament at one under.

Graduate Student Cameron Henry struggled with a first-round 78 and second-round 76, but that fueled the focus and motivation for a history making third round. The Los Gatos, California, native nailed six birdie in his first 13 holes of round three en route to finishing at a five under, 67. This marking the second tournament in a row a Hatter managed the feat, adding his name to the list to the third-best all-time score. Forshey was adamant in his praise for the rebound and what that turnaround did for the team's overall standing in the tournament.

"Cameron Henry came in clutch," Forshey said of the Grad Student "We needed that. He did not perform up to his standard in the first two rounds, but we slowed down his cadence, he was rushing a bit over the first two rounds. To shoot five under, it was tied for the lowest round of the day. It was huge for us."

Rounding out the Hatter team was Javier Calles, whose effort did not go unnoticed. The Spanish international finished dead even, but on the last day hit one under when SU was making strides to surge back up the leaderboard. Over the tournament, Calles notched 12 birdies, five of which were in the final round.

"Javier [Calles] came in and maybe didn't quite have his best stuff, but he will always grind," Forshey said about the Madrid, Spain, native. "He has a willingness to fight, claw and grind for every shot. We needed that one under from him [round three], he was getting it up-and-down from everywhere and he has no quit, which is his best quality."

This wraps up the fall semester for men's golf with the next tournament coming in early February, but there will be confirmation of the rankings coming out in the next few days to show just how much advancement Stetson made this semester.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.