GCSU 6th, USC Aiken 13th at Raines Development Group Intercollegiate

FLORENCE, S.C. – The Georgia College & State University golf team jumped two spots in the final day of action at the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate today (Sept. 18), taking sixth in the largely Division I event. Against a field where 11 of the 15 schools were Division I, the Bobcats shot a final round 300. USC Aiken was the only other PBC team in the field and finished 13th.

GCSU carded a 303-301-300=904, good for plus-40 and second among non-Division I schools at the par-72 7101-yard Country Club of South Carolina.

Among scorers for the Bobcats, three had their best scores in the final round, including senior Kyle Collins (Milledgeville, Ga.) scoring 75-76-73=224 for 25th. Sophomore Francisco Bide (Buenos Aires, Argentina) was 39th at 77-76-74=227.

Both senior Niclas Szeiger (Skanor, Sweden) (75-73-83=231) and freshman Jeff Rives (Roswell, Ga.) (76-76-79=231) slipped to 46th. Freshman Matthew Yonz (Waycross, Ga.) improved his final round for an 81-78-74=233 to take 52nd.

Unattached freshman Billy Shida (Berkeley Lake, Ga.) was far and above the rest of the Bobcats, posting a 70-74-73=217 for one-over and fourth place. Shida did most of his damage on par-fours, at an even 4.00 average, third-best among the field.

For USC Aiken, junior All-American Roberto Diaz fired a final round 69 to vault up the individual leaderboard from 19th into a tie for fourth. Diaz made the turn at three-under-par following a bogey-free front nine. Two-under heading into 17, the Veracruz, Mexico native birdied the 525-yard, par five hole to shoot 69, the best score of the final round. It marks his second-straight top five finish to open the 2007-08 season and is his 11th career top five. In 23 career events, Diaz has 20 finishes inside the top 20.

Senior Jeff Goff signed for his second-straight 74 and tied for 39th at 11-over-par for the 54 holes. Seeing their first action as a Pacer, freshman Zack Bowman and sophomore Gavin Donaghy shot 79 and 85 respectively to finish tied for 68th and 77th. Sophomore Kevin Grady struggled to a final round 92 to fall to 78th in the 80-player field.

Furman University shot a field-best 285 final round for the team title (289-294-285=877) at plus-13. Troy University’s Michael McGrady fired a final-round even-par 72 to earn medalist honors. He was also the first day leader after shooting 71 and 69 on Monday. He finished at four-under-par 212.

To see full tournament results, click here.