College of Charleston
CAA Men's Golf Championship
Cougars Punch Ticket To NCAA Regionals For Second-Straight Year
4/26/2015 11:49:00 PM | Men's Golf
SOUTHPORT, N.C. – From the start of the season in the fall, the main goal for the College of Charleston men's golf team was to get back to NCAA Regionals.
After placing ninth out of 13 teams in the NCAA San Antonio Regional a year ago, the Cougars were still hungry for more.
The ticket to a repeat trip to postseason tournament play? Adding yet another Colonial Athletic Association championship title to the program's growing trophy case under head coach Mark McEntire and assistant coach Henry Smart.
CofC led wire-to-wire at this year's CAA Men's Golf Championship held at the Founders Club at St. James Plantation firing a three-round score of 293-293-287—873 (+9) – 20 strokes better than runner-ups William & Mary and James Madison, who tied at +29. UNCW was fourth (+31), Elon fifth (+32), Delaware sixth (+34), Drexel seventh (+39), Towson eighth (+47) and Hofstra ninth (+80).
Playing through difficult weather conditions, where the average score was 76.02 for all three rounds combined, the Cougars made it look easy from Friday through Championship Sunday.
Leading the way was reigning CAA Player of the Year John Jonas (Jacksonville, Fla.), who shot a 1-under par 215 (70-72-73) to earn individual medalist honors. He became just the fourth all-time player in school history to win a conference individual title next to junior teammate Josh Lorenzetti (2013), Daniel Brunson (2002) and Bruce McDonald (2003). All three individual titles prior were won as members of the Southern Conference.
“John Jonas is the ultimate competitor,” McEntire said. “He struggled this spring. To win the conference championship, is just a testament to his character. I am so proud of him. He really deserved this win.”
It was Jonas' third-best 54-hole total of the season behind a tied for sixth finish at The Invitational at The Ocean Course (212) on Sept. 14 and a runner-up finish (214) at The Intercollegiate on Oct. 28. It also avenged a two-shot victory by Juan Veloza of Towson (-5) for individual accolades a year ago.
“After finishing second last year, one of my goals this year was to win the CAA Championship individual title,” said Jonas, who led the tournament field in Par 3 scoring (3.00 avg.) and birdies (12) made. “It feels great to accomplish it and I'm even happier as a team that we were able to win back-to-back titles.”
Lorenzetti (Blythewood, S.C.) and senior teammate Zach Munroe (Charlotte, N.C.) gave CofC a 1-2 finish on the individual leaderboard as Munroe fired a 5-under par round of 67 with no bogeys, three birdies and one eagle on the 11th in the final round. He and Lorenzetti tied for runner-up honors at 2-over. It marked Munroe's fifth round of the season in the 60s – the second lowest of his career after shooting a personal-best 65 in the final round of The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate on March 31.
“I was so proud of our team today,” McEntire said. “Playing with a lead is tough. We got a fantastic round out of Zach Munroe – a bogey-free 67 and to finish tied for second – was a great way to end his career. I am very proud of this team and can't wait to get to regionals.”
Jonas was named Most Outstanding Performer of the championship and honored on the CAA All-Tournament Team along with Munroe and Lorenzetti. Also contributing to team's second-straight CAA victory was sophomore William Rainey (Charlotte, N.C.), who tied for 13th at +8, and freshman newcomer Anthony Gabriele (West Palm Beach, Fla.) tied for 36th at +18.
CofC has now won conference titles in men's golf on three occasions next to 2002 (SoCon) and 2014 and 2015 (CAA). This will be the program's fifth all-time NCAA appearance.
The Cougars will learn of their postseason-regional site assignment as the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship will be announced via The Golf Channel on Monday, May 4 at 10 a.m. (ET) during its Morning Drive show. Regionals will be held on May 14-16 at six site locations across the country including Noblesville, Ind. (Ball State), Chapel Hill, N.C. (North Carolina), San Diego, Calif. (San Diego), Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech), Bremerton, Wash. (Washington) and New Haven, Conn. (Yale).
Players Mentioned
