Troy Men Tie for Fourth at Austin Peay

Sunday, October 17

Hopkinsville, KY

Troy University

-17 / 847

Austin Peay State University

10/19/2010 4:48:55 PM | Golf (M)

By: Ricky Hazel

FINAL RESULTS: PDF | HTML

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. – The Troy Trojans posted their three best scores of the fall season in earning a tie for fourth place at the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate at The Links at Novadell.

The Trojans opened the tournament on Monday with a season-best round of 284 and made slight improvements in each succeeding round, posting a 282 in Monday's second round and closing with a 281 on Tuesday.

The combined total of 17-under par 847 was good for a tie for fourth place, sharing that position with host Austin Peay and UT-Martin.

Jacksonville State was the run-away winner of the tournament. The Gamecocks scored a tournament-best 259 (-29) in the second round and coasted from there to a nine shot victory over second place Bowling Green (831). JSU finished the tournament at 42-under par.

Oakland University (840) out of Michigan finished third in the 17-team field.

Four players tied for top individual honors in the tournament at 12-under par, with Bowling Green's Charlie Olson winning medalist honors in a playoff with JSU's Gonzalo Berlin and Matthew Wallace and Eastern Kentucky's Billy Peel, Jr.

Troy junior Ricky Casko (Cartersville, Ga.) finished tied for sixth overall, just two shots out of the playoff, with a three-day score of 10-under par 206 (69-69-68).

“It was cold and windy this morning, but we were able to make a lot of birdies and move up a little bit,” Trojans coach Matt Terry said. “We got better in every round and finished at 17-under par, so I can't complain too much about that.”

Troy senior Zach Portemont (Andalusia, Ala.) also earned a top 20 finish, firing his best round on Tuesday with a 69 to finish at six-under par for the tournament (70-71-69) and 210. He finished tied for 14th.

“It was good to see Zach close with a solid round,” Terry said. “The thing about today was that we still missed some birdie putts. Casko could have done much better, but this was a great way for him and the team to close the fall season.”

Sophomore Kyle Blackston, who was playing close to his hometown of Elizabethtown, Ky., closed the tournament with a 70 on Tuesday and finished tied for 22nd with a four-under par score of 212 (74-68-70).

Junior Hunter Harper (Bessemer, Ala.) finished tied for 67th (73-75-74=222) at six-over par and freshman Will Thompson (Montgomery, Ala.) tied for 78th (72-74-78=224) at eight over par.

The Trojans will not return to competition again until early March when they play in the USF Invitational in Dade City, Fla.