Montgomery, Ala. – The Dalton State men's golf team has successfully defended their Southern States Athletic Conference Championship at the par-70, 6,439-yards Montgomery Country Club course.
The Roadrunners (285-284-283 = 852) won all three rounds in beating defending NAIA National Champions and top-ranked Coastal Georgia (296-292-287 = 875) by 23 strokes.
Dalton State's Chase Jones (71-68-68 = 207) finished with the tournament's low individual score. Teammate Sean Elliott (69-70-72 = 211) was right behind in second. Austin Hughes (78-71-70 = 219) and Dalton Johnson (70-76-73 = 219) tied for ninth. Levi Nix (75-75-73 = 223) was tied for 18th.
"It's hard to believe what this team went through this week. I couldn't be more proud of this group of guys," said DS Coach Ben Rickett. "We have ups and downs this season, but this performance was nothing short of exceptional. The focus, the execution was on point this week. I couldn't be happier for my seniors too. I also want a special shout out to Derek (Waugh) all that he has done to allow us to run this program the right way. It's another great day to be a Roadrunner."
Trevor Smith (73-69-74 = 216) of Coastal Georgia and Wade Duke (75-73-68 = 216) of Mobile tied for third.
Mobile (297-295-284 = 876) finished one stroke behind the Mariners. Faulkner University (300-297-283 = 880) is fourth followed by William Carey (296-291-300 = 887), Loyola – New Orleans (309-301-299 = 909), Blue Mountain (308-306-305 = 919), Bethel University (TN) (308, 307-312 = 927), Martin Methodist (312, 312, 306 = 930), and Brewton-Parker (317-315-313 = 945).
With the conference title, Dalton State earned the automatic spot in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championship tournament, which will be held this year on May 24-27 at TPC Deer Run in Moline, Ill.
