One week after seeing Stetson golf's all-time individual 54-hole scoring record fall, the Hatters men's team obliterated the program record for lowest team score over 54 holes with a 34-under par score of 830 at the Allstate Streamsong Invitational.
 
The previous program record for lowest 54-hole team score was a 23-under par total of 841 set at the 2009 Sea Trail Invitational in North Carolina. The current Hatters improved that all-time program mark by 11 shots.
 
"We played pretty well over the last two days," Hatters' coach Danny Forshey said. "It was a shootout and there were a lot of birdies being made. I am proud of the way our guys competed and super excited that we were able to set the all-time scoring record."
 
The Hatters opened the Streamsong event, which was played on the championship Blue Course, with consecutive rounds of 11-under par 277. They wrapped up with a 12-under par 276 in the final round on Tuesday.
 
That score could have been several shots better had sophomore Truman Keppy been in the lineup. Playing as an individual, he was the Hatters' top finisher in the tournament, posting a 12-under par 204 for the event. He just missed tying the low individual mark set last week by Matt Gauntlett.
 
Keppy had rounds of 67 and 66 on Monday before closing with a 71 in the final round. He played bogey-free golf through his first 45 holes. He finished the tournament tied for eighth.
 
"It is a really good problem we have right now because all of these guys, and several of the ones who haven't played yet, are capable of putting up very low numbers," Forshey said. "While we played pretty good here, we still didn't make enough birdies to do what we wanted, which is win the tournament."
 
Even with the program record low score, the Hatters finished fifth in the 13-team field. Virginia led the tournament from wire-to-wire, opening with a 21-under par first round score of 267 and then following up with a 268. The Cavaliers had to hold on down the stretch as the host team from Lipscomb made a final round charge, posting a team score of 255.
 
"It was wild out here because we were all on watch for a possible 59 in that last round," Forshey said.
 
Lipscomb's Jason Hong was eight-under par at the turn in the final round and was 12-under par through 15 holes, but a bogey on the 690-yard, par 5, 17^th hole ended his chance at reaching golf's magic number. He finished the final round with an 11-under 61, jumping him 23 spots on the leaderboard to finish third.
 
Virginia's Ben James led the tournament from wire-to-wire to earn medalist honors. He opened with a nine-under par 63 on Monday and followed up with rounds of 65 and 68 for a 20-under par total of 196.
 
For Stetson, junior Javier Calles Roman used a second round 66 to springboard to a tie for 16^th in the final standings with a 10-under par 206. Gauntlett (68-72-68) and graduate Cameron Henry (69-72-67) tied for 19^th, two shot further back at 208.
 
Junior Mason Quagliata had the best tournament of his career in relation to par, posting rounds of 70-69-71 to finish at six-under par 210 for the tournament. Junior John Houchin finished with a one-under par total of 215 for the event.
 
Overall, the Hatters had 66 birdies in the tournament, plus the 15 Keppy posted as an individual.
 
After playing tournaments in consecutive weeks, the Hatters have almost a month off before they are scheduled to play in the Elon Phoenix Invitational at Alamance Country Club on October 10-11.
 
"We are going to keep working and getting better as a team," Forshey said. "We have a few weeks now to get in some work and get ready for that tournament at Elon. It is going to be fun to watch this team continue to compete."
 
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.