Senior Stephen Shephard earned medalist honors, junior Drew Mathers placed second and the second-ranked Huntingdon men's golf team finished second in the Jekyll Island Invitational. (Photo submitted)
Senior Stephen Shephard earned medalist honors, junior Drew Mathers placed second and the second-ranked Huntingdon men's golf team finished second in the Jekyll Island Invitational. (Photo submitted)

Shephard earns third career win, Mathers and Hawks place 2nd in Jekyll Island Invitational

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. – Senior Stephen Shephard matched the best round of his collegiate career and picked up his third collegiate win, junior Drew Mathers placed second and the second-ranked Huntingdon men's golf team finished second on Sunday in the Jekyll Island Invitational.

Shephard fired a 6-under-par 66 in the final round and earned medalist honors with a 12-under 204. Mathers shot a 1-under 71 in the final round and finished four strokes back at 8-under 208. In Huntingdon's last three tournaments, Mathers has one win and two second-place finishes.

As a team, the Hawks shot a 2-under 286 in the final round and 3-under 861 for the tournament. Top-ranked Emory won the 30-team tournament with a 6-under 858.

The three-round total of 861 is the Hawks' fourth best 54-hole total during the NCAA era. In seven tournaments since the start of the fall, Huntingdon has won twice and placed second three times.

Shephard's 66 matched his best round as a Hawk and is two shots off the program's NCAA-era single-round record of 64.  At 6-under-par, the round is tied for the best round versus par by a Hawk during the NCAA era. Shephard's three-round total of 204 set Huntingdon's NCAA-era record for 54 holes.

Mathers' 208 is the fifth best 54-hole total by a Hawk during the NCAA era. His 1-under 71 on Sunday marked his ninth straight round of par-or-better. Mathers has 14 rounds of par-or-better in 19 rounds this season, tying for the second most in a season by a Hawk during the NCAA era.

Behind Mathers and Shephard, senior Henry Gee shot a 2-over 74 in the final round, senior Mark Connelly shot 3-over 75 and freshman Carson Whitton shot 4-over 76. For the tournament, Gee shot 9-over 225, Connelly shot 10-over 226 and Whitton shot 12-over 228.

 

Director of Golf Dave Schreyer on the Jekyll Island Invitational: "I'm so proud of Stephen and Drew. They both played great golf. As a team, we just couldn't find that third and fourth score.  We did make a great charge at the end, going 9-under during the last four holes. But we just fell short."

 

Coming Up: Huntingdon will host the Wynlakes Intercollegiate on April 1-2.