Trojans make Sun Belt’s semifinals cut; Masters places 2nd
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla (troytrojans.com) – Riding a fast start, the Troy men’s golf team went low with a 2-under in Tuesday’s final round of stroke play at the Sun Belt Championship. The Trojans move on to the semifinals of match play and will take on Arkansas State Wednesday morning.
Freshman Calum Masters led the Trojans as he officially finished in second place after forcing a playoff for the individual title. Masters shot a 2-over 73 in Tuesday’s final round to catch Georgia State’s J.J. Grey at the top of the leaderboard; however, Grey’s teammate Max Herrmann shot a 4-under 67 to force a three-way tie. Herrmann birdied the first playoff hole to win the title.
Playing in the first grouping, the Trojans set the tone for the day as they were 7-under par after the first three holes. Jared Bettcher was 3-under before pulling out his putter as holed out for eagle from 97 yards on the first hole and chipped in for birdie on the second. Cam Norman birdied two of his first three holes, while Masters and Luke Moser each had one birdie.
Bettcher finished the day at 3-under after a bogey on the par-3 sixth and a birdie on the par-4 No. 15. He climbed 24 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 24th place following his round of 68.
Clayton Vannoy shot 1-under on the back nine and finished the day 1-over par to wrap up a steady week of play. He finished in a tie for fourth place overall at 1-under for the tournament and just two shots off the pace. Vannoy made a charge after the turn as he birdied three straight holes from No. 11 to No. 13.
Moser finished his round with five birdies and just three bogeys to shoot a 2-under 69 and climb 13 spots into a tie for 15th place. He had the shot of the tournament on the par-4 No. 15 after his tee shot went into the hazard. With no shoes and no shirt, Moser threw a dart to within two feet on the cup and finished for a birdie.
Norman added his third birdie of the front nine on the par-4 fifth, but made the turn at 2-over par. He went on to shoot 3-over on the back and finished in a tie for 39th place as he closed the day with a 5-over 76.
Georgia State claimed the No. 1 seed for match play after winning stroke play by six shots. The Panthers will take on South Alabama, who climbed three spots on the leaderboard into the No. 4 seed by shooting even par on Tuesday. Arkansas State entered the day in second place, but fell to third – one shot behind Troy – after shooting 4-over in the final round.
Troy and Arkansas State will begin their semifinal matchup on No. 10 at 7:30 a.m., while Georgia State and South Alabama will open on No. 1. The winners of both semifinals will play for the championship Wednesday afternoon.
