SNOW HILL, N.C. – The Jacksonville State men's golf team shot a 1-under 287 on Sunday, but the Gamecocks couldn't hold off a charging East Carolina in the final round of the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate.
 
The Pirates used an 11-under 277 in Sunday's final round to pass Jax State on the final hole of the 54-hole tournament and edge the Gamecocks by just one shot atop the 10-team leaderboard.
 
The Gamecocks finished second, their best finish since winning the first event of the 2022-23 season, with a 5-over 869 on the par-72, 7,280-yard Cutter Creek Golf Club. They shot 287 on Sunday after a 282 on Friday and a 300 in extreme winds on Saturday. The Pirates finished one shot ahead of Jax State, while third-place Old Dominion was 14 shots behind.
 
"I'm very proud of how the guys played this week," head coach Michael Brice said. "We didn't get the finish we wanted but are peaking at the right time. We have so many positives to take away from this week. We have to clean up some things with our short irons and putting, and we will have a great finish to the year."
 
Three Gamecocks finished in the Top 10 of the 78-player field with another finishing in the Top 15. Sophomore Santiago Bailleres and senior Ross Napier tied for fourth after firing 54-hole scores of 216. The duo were even for the tournament  and just three shots behind medalist Lucas Augustsson of ECU.


 
Bailerres, a native of Carrientes, Argentina, finished his three-day outing with a final-round 72 on Sunday. He shot a 5-under 67 on Friday that held as the lowest round of the tournament from any player in the field. He signed for a 77 in a windy second-round that saw scores increase by almost 10 shots per team from the first round. He led the field with 15 birdies during the weekend.
 
Napier capped his best finish of his senior season with the fourth-place tie. The Hartselle, Ala., native claimed his first Top-10 since the season opener after carding rounds of 70-72-74 to account for his 54-hole 216. He played Cutter Creek's par 3s at 2-under, which led the field, and tied for fourth among all players with 12 birdies.
 
Junior Erik Jansson quietly claimed his fifth-straight top-10 finish with a tie for seventh. The Vasteras, Sweden, native saved his best round for last with a 2-under 70 that moved him into the Top 10 with a 54-hole 219. He opened play with a 73 on Friday and shot 76 in Saturday's windy conditions.
 
Redshirt freshman Richardo Matho had by far the best outing of his young Jax State career with a 14^th-place tie and a final score of 222. He shot an even-par 72 out of the gate on Friday and then signed for back-to-back rounds of 75 to close his weekend. He feasted on the par-5 holes at Cutter Creek, playing them a combined 4-under during the tournament.
 
Sophomore Ryley Heath played his best golf of the tournament in his final round on Sunday. In his return to the lineup, the Decatur, Ala., native fired a 1-under 71 on Sunday to climb nine spots into a tie for 27^th with a 225. During the week, he tied Jansson for fourth in the field with 37 pars.
 
Sophomore Jackson Bowman rounded out the Gamecocks' lineup win a tie for 51^st after rounds of 77-79-75 gave the Gadsden, Ala., native a total score of 231. Bowman eagled the par-5 10^th hole on Sunday.
 
The finish to the year that Brice mentioned is only a few weeks away, with one regular-season event remaining on April 17-18 at Arkansas State's Tunica National Collegiate. The ASUN Championship will follow that from April 25-27 in Mobile at Magnolia Grove on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.