Championship Central | Final Results
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – For the second consecutive year the Sun Belt Conference men's golf championship individual title went to sudden death as four golfers held the top spot at the conclusion of the 54-hole stroke play event. Georgia Southern's Steven Fisk and Jake Storey, along with Coastal Carolina's Luis Ruiz and Troy's Clayton Vannoy each finished the tournament at three-under par.
The foursome went to the 18th-hole to determine the winner and it was Fisk who claimed the title after a par on the first playoff hole. Fisk, who carded a tournament-low 66 in Sunday's first round, was the first to tee off on the 18th and drove his tee shot over the water on the right side to the middle of the fairway. His teammate, Storey, was second and hit his tee shot in the bunker, left of the fairway. Ruiz of CCU drove his first shot short of the bunkers left of the fairway while Troy's Vannoy was right, just inside the out of bounds area.
Ruiz then hit his approach short of the green on the right. He was forced to chip from there and ran it past the hole as he finished with a bogey on the hole. Fisk hit his approach to within ten feet of the cup. Storey landed his bunker shot on the green and was left with a putt of about 20-feet. Vannoy's approach landed in the water to the left of the green, an area that collected many balls this week. Vannoy chipped up and on and finished the hole with a bogey.
Fisk's ten-foot putt fell just short of going in as he parred the hole. Storey's birdie putt also fell short. His putt attempt to force a second playoff hole with Fisk rolled halfway around the rim of the cup and out as Fisk was crowned champion.
Fisk's title is the second for the Eagles men's golf program in the past three years as Kim Koivu won the title in 2015, also at the Raven Golf Club.
The team portion of the final round went to four teams; Troy, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State and Georgia State. Those four teams were the top four teams in the team standings following stroke play and advanced to Tuesday's match play semifinals.
Troy finished stroke play as the leader of the team standings. The Trojans carded a final round 289 as they would finish three-over for the tournament. The Eagles finished second in the standings at +12 while Arkansas State and Georgia State tied for third at +20.
Troy will be the top seed in the match play event and will take on Georgia State. Georgia Southern is the No. 2 seed and will play Arkansas State. Both matches will take place on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. (CT) from the Raven.
Since both the Red Wolves and Panthers finished tied in the team standings, a non-sudden death tiebreaker was used to determine the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds for match play. That tiebreaker was the cumulative total of the non-counting scores for both teams. Arkansas State's total was 237 while Georgia State's total was 240, giving the Red Wolves the No. 3 seed.
Troy and Georgia State will tee off from the No. 1 hole while Georgia Southern and Arkansas State will tee off from the No. 10 hole. Troy's match with Georgia State is a rematch of last year's championship match in which Troy won, 3-2.
Men’s Team Results
1. Troy, +3
2. Georgia Southern, +12
T3. Arkansas State, +20
T3. Georgia State, +20
5. Texas State, +21
6. South Alabama, +22
7. Coastal Carolina, +23
8. Little Rock, +24
9. ULM, +26
10. Louisiana, +31
11. UT Arlington, +36
12. Appalachian State, +47
Men’s Individual Results (click here for full results)
1. Steven Fisk, Georgia Southern, -3
T2. Luis Ruiz, Coastal Carolina, -3
T2. Jake Storey, Georgia Southern, -3
T2. Clay Vannoy, Troy, +-3
5. Jared Bettcher, Troy, +-2
T6. Guillaume Fanonnel, ULM, +2
T6. Tanner Napier, Arkansas State, +2
T6. Calum Masters, Troy, +2
T6. Nathan Mallonee, Georgia State, +2
T10. Anthony McGeorge, Texas State, +3
T10. Archer Price, Georgia Southern, +3
T10. Nick Budd, Georgia State, +3
T13. Thibault Santigny, ULM, +4
T13. Jason Mendel, South Alabama, +4
T13. Tanner Gore, UT Arlington, +4
Match Play Semifinals
No. 1 Troy vs. No. 4 Georgia State - hole No. 1, 7:30 a.m. (CT)
7:30 - Luke Moser (TROY) vs. Nathan Williams (GSU)
7:38 - Calum Masters (TROY) vs. Nick Budd (GSU)
7:46 - Cam Norman (TROY) vs. Max Herrmann (GSU)
7:54 - Clayton Vannoy (TROY) vs. Alex Herrmann (GSU)
8:02 - Jared Bettcher (TROY) vs. Nathan Mallonee (GSU)
No. 2 Georgia Southern vs. No. 3 Arkansas State - hole No. 10, 7:30 a.m. (CT)
7:30 - Cody O'Toole (GS) vs. Matt Cole (ASU)
7:38 - Brett Barron (GS) vs. Joel Wendin (ASU)
7:46 - Archer Price (GS) vs. Andrew Huseman (ASU)
7:54 - Jake Storey (GS) vs. Zan Luka Stirn (ASU)
8:02 - Steven Fisk (GS) vs. Tanner Napier (ASU)