COLUMBUS, Ga. – With three players finishing among the top 14, and paced by senior Reece Coleman's runner-up finish, the Anderson men's golf team held off a late charge by Lee University to win its second consecutive tournament title, Tuesday at Columbus State's Cougar Invitational.
"I'm very excited the men's team was able to win for the second week in a row," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "The guys are really on a roll! Reece and Calahan continue to lead our squad with strong play. Simon counted all three rounds and Parker gave us a solid round today to help secure the victory. And Alejandro continues to gain experience and really helped us in the second round. The golf course played extremely tough with fast greens, tough pins and wind gusts today, causing scores to be elevated. We are looking forward to our next event at Camden this weekend and will do our best to secure a third win."
The 12-team field, which included seven teams in Golfstat's latest national top-25 rankings, battled during the two-day, 54-hole tournament on a 6,512 yard, par-70 layout.
AU opened the year by winning the Mizuno Intercollegiate by two shots, then withstood the No. 3-ranked Flames third-round rally to win its second championship in as many weeks by one stroke. Lee and 25th-ranked Clayton State swapped spots in the final standings, with the Lakers slipping to third and Carson-Newman taking home fourth place. No. 23 Saint Leo and Coker shared fifth place, while No. 17 Barton remained in seventh place.
The host Cougars finished in in eighth place, with Georgia College and West Georgia finishing ninth and 10th, respectively. Mississippi College and Valdosta State rounded out the 12-team field.
Lee's Beck Burnette (67-70-68=205) overcame a two-shot deficit during Tuesday's final 18 holes to edge Coleman by four strokes, while Clayton State's Felipe Gomez (68-67-75=210), who led following Monday's first two rounds, slipped to third. AU junior Calahan Keever finished fourth, with sophomore Simon Wright sharing 14th place. Senior Parker MacDonald climbed 14 spots into a share of 33rd place, with freshman Alejandro de Castro finishing in a tie for 42nd place.
AU will get back on the links at next week's Camden Intercollegiate.
Notables
• Coleman's 54-hole 209 matched the fourth-best in school history.
• Keever's three-round 211 matched the 12th-lowest in program history.
• The Trojans have won two tournaments in a season for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign.
• AU's three-round 859 marked the third-best 54-hole score in school history.
• The Trojans' second and third-round 573 marked the 10th-lowest two-round score in program history.
• Coleman's second and third-round 138 matched the 13th-lowest 36-hole score in school history.
• AU's second-round 275 was two shots better than the previous school-record 277, which was set in the first round of the 2021 Tennessee River Rumble.
• The Trojans' first-round 286 matched the 13th-best round in program history.
• AU's two-round 561 was just one stroke off the school-record 561, which was set just last week at North Georgia's Mizuno Intercollegiate.
• Coleman's second-round 65 is the third-lowest round in school history, behind just his own 64 (2021 LMU Spring Kickoff) and Adam Sheriff's 64 (2007 LMU Fall Invitational).
• Coleman and Keever's two-round 136s matched the fourth-lowest two-round scores in school history.
1 Anderson 286 275 298 859
2 Reece Coleman (1) 71 65 73 209
4 Calahan Keever (2) 69 67 75 211
T14 Simon Wright (5) 69 73 77 219
T33 Parker MacDonald (3) 77 76 73 226
T42 Alejandro de Castro (4) 81 70 78 229
Teams Scores
1 Anderson 286 275 298 859 +19
2 Lee 283 289 288 860 +20
3 Clayton State 278 291 298 867 +27
4 Carson-Newman 283 303 292 878 +38
T5 Saint Leo 303 288 290 881 +41
T5 Coker 288 298 295 881 +41
7 Barton 295 293 295 883 +43
8 Columbus State 295 295 305 895 +55
9 Georgia College 289 295 312 896 +56
10 West Georgia 294 298 311 903 +63
11 Miss. College 305 305 308 918 +78
12 Valdosta State 311 304 309 924 +84
