Men's Golf Finishes 3rd At Atlantic 10 Championship
05/02/2011 | Men's Golf
May 1, 2011
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - Sophomore Nick Austin tied for the lead and took second in a playoff and senior Sam Beach tied for seventh as the Richmond men's golf team placed third at the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship at Mission Inn Resort.
The Spiders have finished in the top-5 in nine of 10 tournaments in the 2010-11 season and have finished in the top-3 in seven of the last eight tournaments. Richmond will wait until Monday, May 9 to hear if they receive an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Regional Championships
The Spiders trailed Charlotte and Xavier by 16 shots after the first round, but battled back to post the lowest team rounds both Saturday and Sunday in a feverish comeback that came up one shot behind second-place Xavier and six shots behind champion Charlotte.
With all players through 15 holes of the final round, the Spiders had pulled within one shot of Charlotte and had a two shot lead on Xavier.
Austin and Xavier's Herbert Day tied for first at 2-under-par 214, the only two players in the field to finish the tournament under par on Mission Inn's challenging 6,901-yard, par-72 El Campeon layout.
On the first playoff hole both Austin and Day bogeyed and on the second playoff hole, Day hit a long birdie putt to take medalist honors.
After an opening round 76, Austin shot a 5-under-par 67 Saturday in the second round and a 1-under 71 Sunday.
"Nick played some really excellent golf on a tough course - where a lot can change on any hole out there," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "He's put up great numbers throughout the season and will continue to help take this team in a positive direction."
Austin and Beach earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors. It was Beach's second-straight Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection as he tied for seventh for the second-straight A-10 Championship. He finished the tournament at 3-over 223 (78-70-75).
Sophomore Daniel Walker tied for 10th, his second top-10 A-10 finish in as many Championships. After a 78 and 77 in the first two rounds, Walker carded a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish at 10-over 226.
Junior Brad Miller tied for 12th at 11-over 227 (76-76-75) and senior Michael Shrader tied for 19th at 230 (76-76-78).
"I am extremely proud of this entire group who never gave up, especially after getting way behind after round one," Decker said. "It's a testament to our approach this year of playing for your teammates and having each others back out on the course. They played with a lot of heart and just came up a few shots short. We will take a lot of positives out of the experience."
The Spiders have now finished in the top-3 in the last three Atlantic 10 Championships and their third-place finish matches the second-best finish since joining the conference, having also taken third in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Richmond finished second at last year's A-10 Championship and has placed in the top-5 at all 10 Atlantic 10 Championships it has competed in.
Players Mentioned
