The University of Florida, the defending national champions, rode a pair of strong early rounds and then held on late to take home the 44th playing of the Schenkel Invitational, held at Forest Heights Country Club. It marked the fifth time the Gators have won the prestigious event, but the first since 2017.
South Carolina's Nathan Franks went 69-66-68=203 to take medalist honors, overcoming a one-shot deficit entering the day. He won individual honors by three strokes over Florida's Parker Bell, West Virginia's Max Green and Wisconsin's Daniel Aas. Franks is the third Gamecock to win the Schenkel and the first since George Bryan IV in 2008.
Georgia Southern, the two-time defending champions and the host school, bettered five schools ranked ahead of them in the latest Clippd'd rankings (#25 Mississippi State, #54 Florida Gulf Coast, #58 South Carolina, #66 NC State and #67 Kentucky) to finish fourth and claim its 23rd top-five finish in tournament history.
The Eagles, who played with four new lineup members from a year ago, were led for the tournament by Hayden Carner (208; T5th), Parker Claxton (209; T7th) and Hogan Ingram and Brantley Baker (213; T23rd).
Notre Dame (-23) recorded its third top-five finish in program history, tying its best finish of second that it set in 2022. Middle Tennessee finished third, two shots behind the Fighting Irish.
On Sunday, Ingram used six birdies to lead the Eagles with a season-low 68. It marked the second tournament in which he shot a 213 (-3). Claxton shot a 70 (-2) with six birdies, Reece Coleman shot a 71 (-1) with three birdies, and Luke Koenig carded an even-par 72 with four birdies.
Carner and Claxton tied for fifth place in par-3, scoring for the event at -2, while Claxton finished tied for fourth in par-4, scoring at -2.Claxton finished the weekend with a season-high 15 birdies, tied for the seventh-most in the 84-player field. Carner had 14 birdies and Brantley Bakerhad a season-high 13.
Eleven participating teams were ranked in the top 100 nationally, according to Clippd: Florida (#17), Mississippi State (#25), Notre Dame (#29), Florida Gulf Coast (#54), South Carolina (#58), NC State (#66), Kentucky (#67), Middle Tennessee (#78), Georgia Southern (#90), Wisconsin (#96) and West Virginia (#97).
Individually, eight competitors were ranked in Clippd'd top 100 in Kentucky's Alex Golf (#14), Florida's Ian Gilligan (#17), Mississippi State's Hunter Logan (#50), Florida's Tyler Wilkes (#60), Florida's Matthew Kress (#73), Mississippi State's Drew Wilson (#86), Wisconsin's Cameron Huss (#88) and the champion Franks (#92).
Scores
Team – 286-277-284=847 (-17), 4
Hayden Carner – 70-65-73=208 (-8), T5
Parker Claxton* – 72-67-70 =209 (-7), T7
Brantley Baker* – 70-70-73=213 (-3), T23
Hogan Ingram – 73-72-68=211 (-3), T23
Reece Coleman – 70-74-71=215 (-1), T36
Brycen Jones – 73-70-75=218 (+2), T48
Luke Koenig – 76-70-72=218 (+2), T48
Lindsey Cordell* – 77-70-75=222 (+6), T64
Ian Glanton* – 83-69-73=225 (+9), T71
Luke Dasher* – 75-75-76=226 (+10), T74
*Playing as individual
Words from Coach Carter Collins
"There's a lot to be excited about from this week. First of all, thank you to Statesboro and Forest Heights for an incredible job. We couldn't be more proud to be a small part of this championship event.
"Also, I'm extremely proud of our team for handling everything as well as they did and fighting to the finish each round.
"There are a lot of special things ahead for this team and program; the future is bright and we are excited! Hail Southern!!"
Next up
The Eagles will be back in official action in two weeks, traveling to NC State to participate in The Stitch at Lonnie Poole Golf Club on April 12 & 13.
