September 8, 2009

Grady and Schulte Finish Tied for Ninth at Kiawah Island Invitational

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - The 10th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken golf team concluded the Sixth Annual Kiawah Island Invitational in sixth place with a two-round team tally of 590.

The two-day, 36-hole Kiawah Island Invitational was contested at the 6,875 yard, par 72 Cougar Point Golf Course. USC Aiken served as host of the event.

Preseason top-ranked Georgia College & State showed why they are held in such high regard by finishing its first event of the fall as team champions of the Kiawah Island Invitational with a total two-day team score of 571.

The win by GCSU marked its first ever Kiawah Island Invitational crown. The Bobcats are the third Peach Belt Conference school to claim the Kiawah Island Invitational team championship along with USC Aiken and Armstrong Atlantic State.

USC Aiken has won the Kiawah Island Invitational three times before, claiming the team crown in the first two editions of the event (2004 and 2005) and last year's team crown (2008). Oklahoma Christian won the event in 2007, while Armstrong Atlantic took home the team championship in 2006.

GCSU bested second place finisher USC Beaufort by seven strokes. USC Beaufort had ended the first day in a tie with USC Aiken for sixth place with a total team score of 297. The Sand Sharks improved by 16 strokes on Tuesday with a team round of 281, but it was not enough as GCSU just kept plugging. The Bobcats finished the second round with the low team round of the tournament at 280.

The individual medalist honors at the Kiawah Island Invitational went to Indianapolis' Seth Fair.

Fair and GCSU's Francisco Bide concluded the final round even at 141, but Fair downed Bide in the first hole of a playoff to claim medalist honors.

USC Beaufort's George Thacker and GCSU's Bill Shida finished just behind in third with a two-day score of 142.

USC Aiken's Kevin Grady (Woodbine, Md.) finished the first round in a tie for 21st after posting a 74, but he rebounded in the second round with a 71 to end the Kiawah Island Invitational with a two-round score of 145. Teammate Frederik Schulte (Koln, Germany) shot an even 72 to tie himself with Grady and three others for ninth place with the 145.

USC Aiken will next take part in the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate at the par 72 Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, S.C.

The 54-hole, two-day event is hosted by Francis Marion. USC Aiken finished seventh at last year's event, which was formerly known as the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate and as the Francis Marion Invitational. The Pacers are six-time champions in the event, having last won it in 2006. USC Aiken claimed the crown in the tournament five-straight times from 1992-96.