April 1, 2007
EVANS, Ga. - The 21st-ranked Auburn men's golf team was 3-under with three holes to go but went 4-over the rest of the way and finished 14th with a 298-291-289--878 Sunday in the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at the par-72, 7301-yard Champions Retreat Golf Club.
Eleventh-ranked Coastal Carolina (282-287-284--853) stormed back from a nine-shot deficit entering the final round to claim a one-shot victory over No. 17 North Carolina (279-281-294--854). Georgia State finished third with a 290-281-285--856 followed by South Carolina (289-287-285--861), No. 15 Tennessee (283-294-286--863), No. 13 East Tennessee State (283-293-278--864), Augusta State (297-290-282--869), North Florida (291-293-285--869), Virginia Tech (295-291-286--872) and Clemson (295-294-285--874). North Carolina State (295-290-290--875) and Houston (300-289-286--875) tied for 11th ahead of Virginia (298-296-283--877), No. 21 Auburn (298-291-289--878), South Carolina-Aiken (293-293-295--881), Georgia Southern (303-288-290--881), Notre Dame (294-300-290--884) and Minnesota (296-296-296--888).
The Tigers got off to another good start and moved into the top 10 when Patton Kizzire followed his eagle on the par-4 16th with a birdie on the par-3 17th and Glenn Northcutt, Jay Moseley and Gordon Strother also birdied the 17th. Auburn was 5-under through nine holes but went 6-over to finish the round.
Strother led Auburn with a 74-73-73--220 to tie for 41st while Kizzire and Northcutt tied for 49th at 78-72-71--221 and 77-72-72--221, respectively. Moseley (78-74-73--225) and Jamie Bowen (69-80-76--225) tied for 70th.
"It was another round where we had a good start, but we just weren't able to keep it going," head coach Mike Griffin said. "I was proud of the way some of the guys bounced back after the first round. We're going to go home, work hard and get ready for the next tournament."
Coastal Carolina's Dustin Johnson claimed medalist honors with three 68s for a 12-under 204 total, six shots ahead of a trio of golfers including South Carolina's George Bryan (66-72-72--210), North Carolina's Reed Darsie (68-69-73--210) and Houston's Jordan Irwin (72-66-72--210).
Auburn returns to action at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind., April 7-8.