MORROW, Ga. – For the fifth straight year, throughout the summer, the Clayton State Sports Information Office is counting down the Top-10 stories of the year following an impressive 2018-19 campaign.
Today, we release the No. 4 story of the season – Men's Golf Returns To NCAA Tournament With Tremendous Campaign. Make sure to check
www.ClaytonStateSports.com every Friday to catch the latest release.
Story No. 4: Men's Golf Returns To NCAA Tournament With Tremendous Campaign
In order to land in the top four of an annual countdown it either needs to be a major Department-wide accomplishment or project or a truly impressive season across the board. Men's golf did just that throughout the 2018-19 campaign to claim their place among the top moments from this past season.
Having experienced individual and tournament success in recent years, this year's team put it all together to deliver one of the best seasons in the past decade in program history.
That would include landing five top five finishes, highlighted by
landing a runner-up finish at the Bearcat Classic, a field that featured a whopping 22 teams to make it one of the largest in the country. Junior
Nick Woof (Leighton Buzzard, England) and freshman
Javier Gonzalez (San Jose del Cabo, Mexico) each earned All-Tournament honors, finishing third and tied for fifth, respectively, as the club beat out No. 7 Young Harris.
Clayton State would also finish
third at the Fifth Annual UNG Fall Invitational (10/2), fourth at both the
Hurricane Invitational (2/26) and
Peach Belt Conference Championships (4/21) and
fifth at the Matt Dyas Invitational (10/23). For good measure they added a pair of sixth place outings at the
Fifth Annual Newberry Invitational (2/19) – in horrendous final day weather at that – and the
Southern Tide Classic (3/5).
At UNG in the fall, Woof tied for runner-up honors and claimed All-Tournament but what was truly impressive was that he landed himself in the Laker and PBC Record Books. He would
earn PBC Men's Golfer of the Week after shooting a program record eight-under-par and team record tying 64. The latter was the
14th round of 64 or lower in PBC history and he became just the eighth Laker to earn the award.
Impressive on the links as well as the classroom, Woof would go on to become the
first multi-time PBC Men's Golf All-Academic Team selection in program history. That would not be the only honors the Lakers would claim, however, as senior
Andres Caballero (Mexico City, Mexico) was named All-PBC Second-Team and head coach
Hank Kim claimed the league's Co-Coach of the Year honors. The latter would be just the second in team history and the first since Bob Hill did it in 2005.
That would all lead to the crowning achievement of 2018-19 for Clayton State men's golf –
the return of the program to the NCAA Division II Tournament as a team for the
first time since 2013-14.
They would show they belonged as well, delivering
an impressive fourth place finish after Day 1. That would also see Caballero and Gonzalez tied for fifth after the opening 18 holes. Taking on the toughest field in the country with 13 nationally ranked programs, and seven of those in the Top-10 – including the top three – they wouldn't stay there, however, as they
finished 16-of-20 after the 54-hole tournament.
While the desired end result of any season is always a national championship, that performance – as well as their entire body of work – did not go unnoticed. Golfstat, one of the premiere entities in the world of collegiate golf, recognized
Clayton State men's golf at No. 32 in the country in their final Relative-to-Par National Rankings for 2018-19, capping a tremendous campaign with a fitting honor.
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2019-20 preseason, the SID Office will release the list one at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 7. The No. 1 story in Clayton State Athletics, as chosen by the Sports Information Office, will be released on Friday, August 9.
Countdown to the Top-10 Clayton State Athletics Stories from 2018-19
No. 1 – Coming August 9
No. 2 – Coming August 2
No. 3 – Coming July 26
No. 4 – Men's Golf Returns To NCAA Tournament With Tremendous Campaign (July 19)
No. 5 – Major Hires and Record Department Numbers Highlight 2018-19 (July 12)
No. 6 – Women's Basketball Returns to NCAA Tournament for 13th Time in 15 Years (July 5)
No. 7 – Men's Track & Field Delivers Multiple Individual League Championships (June 28)
No. 8 – Undefeated Start Leads Women's Soccer Back to PBC Tournament (June 21)
No. 9 – Men's Basketball Garners Record-Setting Honors (June 14)
No. 10 – Men's Soccer's Late Run and Individual Accomplishments (June 7)
Honorable Mention (May 31)
