University of Richmond
Atlantic 10 Championship<BR><I>Orange County National</i>
Utley Takes Fourth As Men's Golf Finishes Fifth At Atlantic 10 Championship
05/04/2008 | Men's Golf
May 4, 2008
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - Senior Jordan Utley finished fourth to lead the Richmond men's golf team to a fifth-place finish at the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship, completed Sunday at Orange County National Golf Club.
The Spiders shot their best round of the tournament in Sunday's final round, carding a 5-under-par 283 to finish the tournament at 2-over-par 866. Richmond was one shot behind fourth-place Xavier and three shots behind third-place Rhode Island. Dayton finished second at 4-under-par and Charlotte, the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, won the event for the third-straight year.
Richmond has finished at least fifth in the Atlantic 10 Championship in all seven years competing in the conference.
Utley shot a 3-under 69 for the second-straight day - following an opening-round 70 - to finish fourth at 8-under 208 and earn all-conference honors for the second time in his career. He finished three shots behind medalist Rob Chappell of Dayton (-11), two shots out of second and one shot out of third place. Utley had finished ninth as a sophomore at the 2006 A-10 Championship to earn all-conference honors.
"Jordan really put together an impressive three days," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "He was consistent in this tournament as he has been throughout his career. He has had a tremendous college career at Richmond and really went out in tremendous fashion."
Utley's fourth-place finish was his best in four Atlantic 10 Championships and was the second-highest finish for a Spider at the A-10 tourney. It was his fourth top-5 finish of the season and his seventh top-10 finish in 10 tournaments in 2007-08.
Richmond Sophomore Robert Lindstrom shot a 2-under 70 for the second-straight round to finish the tournament 13th at even-par 216. Lindstrom had carded a 76 in the first round. Junior Tim Courtney tied for 17th at 2-over-par 218, posting his second-straight top-20 finish at the A-10 Championship.
Junior Grant Rafield shot a 1-over 73 in the final round Sunday to finish at 13-over 229 to tie for 40th. Senior Billy Hanes tied for 42nd at 14-over 230 after carding a 75 Sunday.
"We had a successful season and finished it off well today going 5-under-par," Decker said. "Jordan and Billy have given a lot to this program and we are going to miss them. We do have a solid nucleus returning next season as we look to return to the NCAA Championships."
