Golf Finishes 2009 Season, Looking On to Next Year

SPARTANBURG, SC – The SMC men’s and women’s golf teams are already looking toward the 2009-2010 season after both finishing their spring seasons last week.

The men’s team placed 2nd in Region X and 6th in District V at its tournaments last week at Terri Pines Country Club in Cullman, AL, with a three-round combined score of 933 (309 / 314 / 310).

Freshman Cally Bell (Inman HS / Chapman, SC) placed 4th in the combined tournaments with a three-round score of 224 (71 / 79 / 74).  Bell was SMC’s top scorer at each of the team’s events this spring.  He was also an All-Tournament member at the Tusculum College Spring Invitational in March.

He and teammate Greg Jaeggi (Mauldin HS / Simpsonville, SC), a sophomore, were named All-Region winners.

“We had a good year, but fail short of our goal of winning the Region and going to the Nationals,” says SMC Men’s Golf Coach and Athletic Director Mark Perdue. S

Sophomore Chancen Blackwood (Boome HS / Spartanburg, SC), one of the team leaders throughout the season, sustained an injury in the first round of the region tournament and was only able to complete that round.

 “He gave it best. It’s always difficult on a player to end a season with an injury, but we’ve been tremendously proud of the leadership and effort that Chancen and the entire team have put forth all year,” adds Perdue.

“We hope to have a strong roster next year though, with several returners. A region win and a trip to nationals, with a strong performance there, remain our goal for next year also,” he says.

However, the Lady  Pioneers golf team wrapped its season up on a high note with a first place finish at the Orchard Spring Invitational, sponsored by Piedmont College, in Clarksville, GA – the team’s only first place finish of the 2008-2009 seasons.

The women’s team finished the invitational with a one-round 355, led by sophomore Jessica Gibson (Strom Thurmond HS / Edgefield, SC) who claimed a third-place finish with an 84.

“This spring has been a huge success for the women's golf program,” says women’s golf coach Head Coach Kyle Owings.

He adds that Gibson, along with sophomore teammate Karen Eite (York Comprehensive HS / York, SC) and freshman teammate Corrine Skelly (Pendleton HS / Pendleton, SC) “have been the backbone of the program this spring.”

“Our record this spring was a great improvement from the fall. But I am expecting this team to only get better next year, with the addition of three new incoming freshman,” Owings says.

Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia.

The College is in its 98th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning. For more information contact Brian Fulkerson, Director of Public Information, at (864) 230-3586.