The Patriots golf team defeated Davidson 3.5 to 2.5 to earn a third place finish at the Atlantic 10 Match Play Championship held at the Weston Hills Country Club in Weston, Fla. Mason had split the two matches on day one, defeating La Salle before coming up short against top seeded VCU.
The Mason golfers got off to a slow start, falling behind in five of the six matches, as Eric Edwards was the only player ahead in his match at the turn. The Patriots were still behind or even going into hole 15 when strategy played a key role in turning the match. The Mason players drove to an easy wedge into the green on the short par 4, while Davidson went for the green and four players found the water and the momentum swung.
Trevor Tremps, Ellis Messian, and Brock Kovach each birdied the par 5 16th to take one hole leads. Edwards closed out his match on 18 and Tremps on 17, while Kovach halved his last hole to secure his match. Messian's halve on 18 secured the final 1/2 point needed for the win.
“The guys showed some grit today, coming from behind, especially on the final stretch of holes that had given us problems yesterday,” said Coach Scott King. “The wind was up and we were dodging showers the last hour of play, but they hit the shots when it counted under pressure. This should definitely carry over into the rest of the spring season.”
The Patriots will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for their next tournament, Bash at the Beach on March 8.
About the Atlantic 10 Match Championship: Eight of the 11 A-10 teams are participating in the A-10 Match Play Championship, and each team plays six student-athletes. Teams play six matches, earning one point for victory in each match and one-half of a point for a tie. The team with the most points will advance to the Championship side of the match play. In the event of a tie the winning team will be decided by the most overall holes won collectively as a team.
Teams were seeded based on the final Fall Golfstat rankings and are listed below:
1st Round Matches and Seeding
1) VCU vs. 8) St. Bonaventure
4) George Mason vs. 5) La Salle
2) Richmond vs. 7) Saint Joseph's
3) Davidson vs. 6) George Washington
