Newberry Men’s Golf Advances To Match Play At NCAA National Championships

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. - The Newberry College men's golf team fired a 4-under par 284 in Wednesday's third round to advance to the match play bracket of the NCAA Division II National Tournament at the Fighting Joe Course of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals. The Wolves wrapped up the stroke play portion of the tournament in sixth place at 26-over par 890.

The Wolves will face Cal State-Monterey Bay in the quarterfinals of the medal match play bracket, beginning at 7:45 a.m. central time. The Otters finished the stroke play portion of the tournament in a tie for third place with Central Oklahoma at 17-over par 881, nine strokes ahead of Newberry.

Wednesday's 284 ties for the ninth-best round in Newberry history and was the third-best round in this year's national tournament. Newberry was led in the third round by senior Daniel Stanley (Inman, S.C.). Stanley shot a bogey-free, 3-under par 69, with birdies on holes 13, 17 and 7 as the Wolves started on the back nine of the course.

Senior Ben Lown (North Augusta, S.C.), the 2011 Men's Golf SAC Scholar Athlete, shot a 1-under par 71, highlighted by an eagle on his second hole of the day, the par 4 11th. Lown also recorded three birdies on the day. The senior duo of Lown and Stanley each finished in a tie for 24th individually with 6-over par 222's in the 54 holes.

The third subpar round on the day for Newberry came from Matthew Killen (Yorkshire, England), who matched Stanley's 3-under par 69. Killen had four bogeys in the round but overcame those with seven birdies. The junior finished his round on a tear, carding a birdie on his final four holes, which put him in a tie for 39th individually with a 10-over par 226.

Matthew Campbell (Rome, N.Y.) had an up-and-down round Wednesday, shooting a 3-over par 75 despite five birdies. Campbell tied for 44th as an individual with an 11-over par 227. Chandler Gruenemeier (Jacksonville, Fla.) shot a 4-over par 76 with four birdies on the day, and finished tied for 54th individually with a 13-over par 229.

Newberry had the largest round-to-round improvement after each round, improving from 14th position to a tie for ninth on Tuesday by shooting 10 strokes better than the previous day, then jumping three more spots with a 14-stroke improvement in the third round.

Lynn University claimed the top seed with an even par 864 through three rounds and will play eighth seed Barton College at 7 a.m. Also playing at 7 a.m. are fourth seed Central Oklahoma and fifth seed Central Missouri. Newberry and CSU-Monterey Bay will start at 7:45 a.m., as will second seed Abilene Christian and seventh seed Fort Lewis (Colo.).

NCAA Division II Championships
Robert Trent Jones Trail at the Shoals - Fighting Joe
Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Par 72, 7150 yards

Top Eight Teams (Through Final Round of Stroke Play)
Rank Team Scores Total Par
1 Lynn 291 291 282 864 E
2 Abilene Christian 298 294 286 878 +14
3 Cal State-Monterey Bay 294 293 294 881 +17
Central Oklahoma 295 304 282 881 +17
5 Central Missouri 296 297 292 885 +21
6 Newberry 308 298 284 890 +26
7 Barton 299 307 288 894 +30
Fort Lewis 296 301 297 894 +30

Newberry Individuals
Player Scores Total Par Individual Finish
Ben Lown 76 75 71 222 +6 t-24th
Daniel Stanley 79 74 69 222 +6 t-24th
Matthew Killen 78 79 69 226 +10 t-39th
Matthew Campbell 75 77 75 227 +11 t-44th
Chandler Gruenemeier 81 72 76 229 +13 t-54th