#5 St. Edward’s comes storming back, finishes second at Rollins College Invitational
Mayer loses on second playoff hole for individual medalists honors
OCOEE, Fla. - Senior Collin Mayer lost on the second playoff hole and finished second individually while leading his team to a second-place finish at the Rollins College Invitational at the Forest Lake Golf Club Tuesday afternoon.
Mayer (64-68-73=205) led by three shots going into the final round but shot a one-over par 73 to finish regulation at 11-under par. Lynn's Patricio Salem (71-67-67=205) fired a five-under par final round to tie Mayer and force a playoff.
The two players went back to the Par 4, 18th hole for the first playoff hole. Both players saved par with putts within 10 feet. The second playoff hole took place on the Par-5 1st Hole. Salem birdied after a two-putt on the green. Mayer's third shot landed just off of the green and he then chipped within six feet. His birdie-try just missed and he settled for a par and second place.
"Collin hit the ball well and was great all week," head coach Todd Ohlmeyer said. "I am excited for him and how well he is playing."
St. Edward's (282-281-285=848) was 11 shots back of #15 Nova Southeastern (271-290-284=845) after the first round but the Hilltopper rallied in round two and shot seven-under par compared to two-over par for the Sharks to cut the lead to two shots. In the final round, St. Edward's ran out of juice as Nova Southeastern bettered the Hilltoppers by one stroke. No. 1-ranked Barry (282-285-283=850) and #4 Lynn (291-277-282=850) tied for third place and host #39 Rollins College (283-283-290=856) rounded out the top-five. St. Edward's also placed better than #6 Valdosta State, #8 Columbus State, and #11 Florida Southern.
"This was the toughest overall tournament we played in this fall season," Ohlmeyer said. "Our last tournament was not indicative of what kind of team we have. We responded well this week and played a solid tournament. This definitely gives us momentum for the Spring season."
Nova Southeastern's Ben Vertz (65-73-68=206) ended in third place and Hilltopper freshman Brad Lyle (70-68-70=208) continued his stellar play by tying for fourth place with Nova Southeastern's Jack Bartlett (67-72-69=208). Lyle led the Hilltopper charge down the stretch by finishing eagle, birdie, birdie.
Also competing for the Hilltoppers were senior Matthew Hatcher (73-68-72=213) who finished tied for 10th place, sophomore Santiago Quintero (76-78-70=224) finished tied for 48th place and junior Mitch Cahill (75-77-79=231) ended tied for 64th place.
The Hilltoppers will now take an extended break and come back in the Spring semester. St. Edward's will open with the Golf Week Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Feb. 7-9.