By: by Mark Toma
FURMAN, S.C. - Kennesaw State cut three shots off their second round score to surge to a fifth place finish at the 2010 Furman Intercollegiate at the Furman University Golf Course on Sunday afternoon.
The Owls (304-301-298-903, +39), who finished in the top five for the fourth time, moved up five spots on Sunday’s final round to finish in a fifth place tie with Old Dominion while also besting No. 44-ranked Virginia Tech, who finished seventh.
“I'm so proud of all our guys today,” boasted head coach Jay Moseley. “We played great this afternoon in some tough conditions. We struggled on the last two holes, but other than that it was definitely our best round of the year. Any time you can jump five spots on the last day, you know it was a great round.”
Kennesaw State trailed only No. 18-ranked Clemson, who won the event with a 1-over par 865, by 38 strokes. The Black and Gold were 24 strokes behind No. 29-ranked Chattanooga, 10 shots off host Furman and four shots behind Western Carolina.
Sam Curtis (77-77-73-227, +11) led the Owls on Sunday with a 1-over par 73 as he finished the three-round event at 11-over par 227. Through the first 12 holes of the final round Curtis, who finished tied for 36th place, was sizzling hot. He birdied four holes and was two under par with six holes to play before finishing the round four strokes lower than the first two rounds.
Alex Jones and J.P. Putnam each finished the final round with scores of 2-over par 74 for their lowest round of the three-day event. Each player made three birdies on Sunday, finishing even par on the back nine. Jones finished at 17-over par 233 while Putnam (74-78-74-226, +10) was the Owls top finisher as he tied for 32nd with a score of 10-over par 226.
Peder Hermansson (82-70-77-229, +13) finished the final round with a 5-over par 77 to finish tied for 51st place while Jeff Karlsson (73-76-79-228, +12) shot a 7-over par 79 to finish tied for 42nd place.
“We are excited to be playing well right now,” added Moseley. “We feel very good as we head into our last two events and conference.”
The Owls, who will be searching for their fifth top five finish of the year, will be back in action next weekend when they compete in the Linger Longer Invitational in Greensboro, Ga.
