Jax State
GMac Invitational
Tournament Low Round Vaults Men’s Golf to Fourth-Place Finish
9/24/2024 8:00:00 PM | Men's Golf
ONEONTA, Ala.—Jax State posted 15-under as a team in the final round of the GMAC Invitational at Limestone Springs to move up three spots and finish fourth in the field of 13 teams.
UL Monroe and North Alabama tied at the top of the leaderboard at 834 for the 54-hole tournament followed by Lipscomb at 836. The Gamecocks were under par as a team in all three rounds, opening with a two-under 283, posting 282 on Monday, and an incredible 273 on Tuesday.
The 15-under round tied for the sixth lowest to par in program history.
"I'm very proud of this team once again for the grit and fight they show each time they step onto the course," said coach Sylas Elliott. "We didn't get off to a great start in Round 1 or 2, but fought hard to get ourselves back in a position to give it a run in Round 3 and they guys did just that."
Ryley Heath finished sixth on the individual leaderboard with a total of 11-under, highlighted by a six-under 66 on Tuesday. The senior also had rounds of 68 to open and 71 in the second.
"I'm so blessed to be on this team with such an incredible group of guys that can go out on any given day and shoot something great," said Heath. "Like I said last week it's only up from here and we did just that. The finish may not have been as great as the last event but I believe we performed much better at this event which was a strong field and just all around a true test of golf. The team showed up big this week it's only going to continue to get better and better. I am super excited for the rest of the season."
Gabriel Restrepo moved up 26 spots on Tuesday with the second-lowest 18-hole score in the entire tournament with a seven-under 65 to place 14th. Restrepo was five-under on the Front 9 and posted a 34 on the back with his lone bogey of the day on the 18th hole. The redshirt senior opened the tournament with a 76 and came back with a 70 on Monday, which included an eagle on the Par 4 13th after a double on the Par 3 13th.
Devin Speight was also 14th in the field at five-under after opening bogey-free with a 68 on Sunday which included an eagle on the 8th. He finished with rounds of 70 and 73.
Santiago Bailleres was 18th with a score of -4 for the tournament, posting 71 in each of the first two rounds and 70 in the final.
Ben Shedd was 69th in the field, closing with an even-par round after an 82 and a 75.
"Regardless of the outcome, we made the statement we wanted to make this week by that last round score," said Elliott.
Next up for the Gamecocks is the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate in Jonesboro, Ark. On September 29th.
