LOUDON, Tenn. – With sophomore Calahan Keever and junior Anthony Sutton each firing final-round, even-par 72s, the Anderson men's golf team moved up two spots and closed out the regular season with a 16th-place finish, Tuesday at Lincoln Memorial's Tennessee River Rumble.
The Railsplitters hosted the two-day, 54-hole tournament at the Wind River Golf Club on a par-72, 6,986-yard layout.
"We were really pleased with the way the guys played today," said Anderson Associate Head Coach Denton Moore. "Today's round is what we have to do consistently. We can't shoot 318 in the first round, then 292 in the final round. There can't be a 26-shot differential between tournament rounds. We have to be more consistent than that. We did a lot of good things today. The great thing is, today still wasn't our best. I know we can shoot 292 when we don't have our best. That is the exciting part. We just can't let rounds get away from us like we did in the first two rounds. Parker MacDonald and Anthony Sutton really played well today in the final round. It was really exciting to see them shoot 72 and 73. When those two play well, we are going to play well as a team. Calahan Keever shot 72 today that could have easily been a 68 or better. He just had a cold putter this week. He didn't putt bad, just didn't make much."
In a 19-team field that featured seven top-25 teams, the fourth-ranked Railsplitters overcame a slim one-shot deficit to win their event by two strokes over Belmont Abbey, with seventh-ranked North Georgia one stroke further back in third place. Lee moved up two spots and finished fourth, with fifth-ranked Carson-Newman jumping up five spots into fifth place. USC Aiken dropped one spot into the sixth slot, with King finishing seventh. No. 23 Queens slid from fourth into a tie for eighth, alongside 27th-ranked Erskine.
No. 26 Newberry and 37th-ranked Coker finished 10th and 11th, respectively, while Tusculum, LMU (B) and Lenoir-Rhyne all shared 12th place. Walters State, Anderson, Wingate, North Greenville and Young Harris wrapped up the field.
North Georgia's Stephen Kinsel (64-70-75=209) held off King's Samuel Espinosa Trueba (70-67-72=209) in a one-hole playoff for individual medalist honors, while Lee's Beck Burnette and LMU's Harry Lord finished one stroke further back in a tie for third place.
Keever finished up sharing 40th place, while sophomore Daniel Coker and junior Reece Coleman finished in a tie for 56th place. Junior Parker MacDonald moved up 15 spots behind a final-round 1-over 73, with Sutton finishing in a tie for 91st place.
"I'm really excited to end the tournament on a good note as we get ready to head into the SAC Championship next week," added Moore. "We will take it easy for a couple of days, and then really go into grind mode to get ready."
Following a two-week break, the Trojans will compete at the South Atlantic Conference Championship, which is scheduled for April 10-12, at the Graysburg Hills Golf Club in Chuckey, Tenn.
16 Anderson 316 301 292 909 +45
T 40 Calahan Keever 77 75 72 224 +8
T 56 Daniel Coker 79 73 76 228 +12
T 56 Reece Coleman 76 77 75 228 +12
T 82 Parker MacDonald 84 77 73 234 +18
T 91 Anthony Sutton 90 76 72 238 +22
Pos. School Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Total To Par
1 Lincoln Memorial 286 291 285 862 -2
2 Belmont Abbey 285 285 294 864 E
3 North Georgia 285 290 290 865 +1
4 Lee 294 294 281 869 +5
5 Carson-Newman 298 292 286 876 +12
6 USC Aiken 293 299 285 877 +13
7 King 297 288 295 880 +16
8 Queens 289 302 300 891 +27
Erskine 300 298 293 891 +27
10 Newberry 310 287 297 894 +30
11 Coker 298 306 292 896 +32
12 Tusculum 301 302 294 897 +33
LMU (B) 300 306 291 897 +33
Lenoir-Rhyne 302 301 294 897 +33
15 Walters State 297 306 302 905 +41
16 Anderson 316 301 292 909 +45
17 Wingate 304 305 306 915 +51
18 North Greenville 307 301 311 919 +55
19 Young Harris 327 301 310 938 +74
