The men's golf teams from Dalton State College and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga finished near the bottom of the field as the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic wrapped up Sunday at The Farm in Rocky Face, Ga.
Dalton State's three-day total of 889 was one shot better than the Mocs, whose final-day 292 was two shots better than the Roadrunners. Dalton State finished 12th, while UTC was one place back and ahead of only Memphis in a tournament that always boasts a prestigious list of competing schools.
Virginia won the team title with a tournament-record 833 after closing with a 280. Auburn was second at 839, followed by Clemson (848), LSU (852) and Georgia Tech (856).
The Yellow Jackets produced the individual champion, Luke Schniederjans, who closed with a 2-under-par 70 on the 7,012-yard layout and finished at 205, two shots off the tournament record and one stroke ahead of a trio in second: the champion Cavaliers' Derek Bard, Auburn's Ryan Benton and North Florida's Phillip Knowles.
Schniederjans is the younger brother of Ollie Schniederjans, who was a three-time All-American at Georgia Tech and now is a regular on the Web.com Tour who has competed in several PGA Tour events.
Dalton State's best finish came from Dalton Johnson, who tied for 42nd at 220. Sport Allmond (223, tied for 53rd), Adam Morris (227, tied for 64th) and Chase Cole and Ben Rebne (both 229, tied for 68th) also competed for the Roadrunners.
"This week allowed me to find out a lot about this young group," coach Ben Rickett said on dsroadrunners.com. "I was thoroughly impressed with them all week, especially in such a great tournament against some of the world's greatest amateurs. We are very thankful that we get to start off our season in our town at such a prestigious event. It is only September and we have lots to work on, but this is for sure a good place to start."
UTC's Wes Gosselin tied for 30th at 218, with teammate Andrew Weathers sharing 49th at 222. Lake Johnson (224, tied for 57th), Brooks Thomas (226, tied for 60th) and Etienne Brault (242, 76th) also competed for the Mocs.
"We are much farther along at this point than last year," coach Mark Guhne said in a UTC release. "We had one guy playing well here last year, but right now I think we have three guys in good shape. We just need to expand that by a couple of guys. The good news is there is time, and I think we have the guys here to get it done. We need to get everyone playing the way they're capable of playing golf."
UTC women ready
UTC's women's golf team will tee off its 2016-17 schedule today in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate, a 16-team tournament at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville.
Back from last year's team are Southern Conference medalist Megan Woods, Cristina Perez and Monica San Juan. Perez and Woods are juniors, while San Juan is a sophomore. Colette Murray, a four-time SoCon coach of the year, has added freshmen Maddy McDanel, Holly Morgan and Maria Pineiro to the roster.
Woods, Perez, San Juan, McDanel and Morgan will compete for the Mocs' team score in Knoxville, with Pineiro playing as an individual.