NeSmith Wins SEC Championship

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (USC SID) — South Carolina junior Matt NeSmith fired a final-round 67 (-3) on Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club‘s Seaside Course to become just the second golfer in program history to win medalist honors at the SEC Championship. NeSmith, who joins Eric Ecker (1998) as the only Carolina golfers to win an SEC title, wrapped up the weekend with a 54-hole total of 196 (-14), which is a school SEC Championship record. His nearest competitor, Auburn‘s Ben Schlottman, finished six shots back with a total of 202 (-8). As a team, the Gamecocks came up just short of winning their first SEC title as they finished tied for second with Vanderbilt with a 54-hole total of 830 (-10), the lowest total in program history at the SEC Championship. Carolina shot a 280 (E) on Sunday to finish three shots back of champion LSU. The Tigers won the title with a total of 827 (-13). Auburn and Alabama rounded out the top five in the team standings, finishing tied for fourth with a total of 833 (-7). A native of North Augusta, S.C., NeSmith played the front side bogey free as he made the turn at 3-under 32. He carded his only birdie on the back nine on the par-4 11th to get to 4-under but dropped back to 3-under with his only bogey of the weekend on the par-4 14th. He tallied par on his final four holes to finish the tournament at 14-under to win the title. Senior Will Murphy played a stellar round, shooting a 1-under 69 with just one bogey on the day. Murphy earned a top-20 finish, tying for 17th with a total of 209 (-1). Junior Sean Kelly wrapped up the weekend in a tie for 42nd with a total of 215 (+5) after carding a 71 (+1) in the final round. He made just two bogeys and a birdie on the afternoon. Junior Will Starke and senior Caleb Sturgeon finished tied for 47th with a total of 217 (+7) after shooting 77 and 73, respectively. Round Changer NeSmith recorded his seventh-straight round in the 60s, posting a 3-under 67 to win the SEC title. He recorded just one bogey on the weekend. Notable “¢ NeSmith became just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title. Eric Ecker claimed medalist honors at the rain-shortened 1998 SEC Championship in Athens, Ga., with a total of 136. “¢ NeSmith‘s total of 196 is a school SEC Championship record. “¢ NeSmith is the first Gamecock to win consecutive events since Carl Paulson won the PING Intercollegiate (4/11/93) and the Billy Hitchcock Intercollegiate (4/25/93) back-to-back in 1993 “¢ The Gamecocks finished runner-up at the SEC Championship for the fourth time in school history (1998, 2008, 2013, 2015). “¢ Carolina‘s 54-hole total of 830 is a school SEC Championship record, besting the previous record of 838 set by the 2014 squad. “¢ The Gamecocks finished tied for first in the field in par-5 scoring (4.73, -8). Individually NeSmith led the field in par-5 scoring (4.17, -5). “¢ NeSmith has shot in the 60s in seven-straight rounds. “¢ NeSmith recorded just one bogey on the weekend. Quotable South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald “The team put us in contention, and we were right there. We had a chance on the back nine. We got a little bit of wind today, which made the golf course play a little harder. I think that was in our favor. We just didn‘t quite get it done. As far as Matt NeSmith goes, that‘s some of the best golf I‘ve ever seen. He made one bogey in three rounds, and I had the pleasure of being able to walk and watch all of it. Congratulations to him on being our second SEC champion. It‘s wonderful how he played.” South Carolina junior Matt NeSmith “This win means a lot to me. I played really, really well all week. The one bogey is proof of that. I never really got in any bad spots and made a lot of putts. It was just a really fun weekend.” On keeping the momentum going after winning his first collegiate tournament at Hootie at Bulls Bay “It was nice to get the monkey off my back to get the (first collegiate) win (at the Hootie). That‘s been a huge goal of mine for a really long time. Once you do it once, you just kind of get into a rhythm. You continue to play well and strike the ball well. You can say I did it a week ago and I can do it again.” Up Next The Gamecocks will now wait for NCAA Regional pairings to be announced on May 5. Regionals will be contested at six sites May 14-16. SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS 1. Matthew NeSmith (1) 65-64-67=196 (-14) T17. Will Murphy (4) 72-68-69=209 (-1) T42. Sean Kelly (5) 73-71-71=215 (+5) T47. Will Starke (2) 66-74-77=217 (+7) T47. Caleb Sturgeon (3) 72-72-73=217 (+7) FINAL TEAM STANDINGS 1. LSU 274-272-281=827 (-13) T2. Vanderbilt 276-274-280=830 (-10) T2. South Carolina 275-275-280=830 (-10) T4. Auburn 275-276-282=833 (-7) T4. Alabama 269-274-290=833 (-7) 6. Arkansas 279-275-280=834 (-6) T7. Georgia 282-277-283842 (+2) T7. Florida 282-276-284=842 (+2) 9. Mississippi 288-278-283=849 (+9) 10. Texas A&M 286-282-287=855 (+15) 11. Kentucky 284-284-288=856 (+16) 12. Tennessee 284-292-284=860 (+20) 13. Missouri 287-283-291=861 (+21) 14. Mississippi State 289-297-299=885 (+45)