March 13, 2012

Golden Eagles finish strong third at Grover Page Classic

Tennessee Tech moved from up from fifth to third place in the final round of the Grover Page Classic Tuesday, righting its ship with a strong finish after struggling in the first tournament of the season a week ago.

JACKSON, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech moved from up from fifth to third place in the final round of the Grover Page Classic Tuesday, righting its ship with a strong finish after struggling in the first tournament of the season a week ago.

The Golden Eagles finished with a team score of 899, just three strokes off second place and 18 out of first in the 12-team field. Tennessee-Martin, the host squad, won the event with an 881 while Southern Illinois placed second with an 896.

Greg Kitts led Tech and placed in a tie for 10^th overall, following up a first-round 76 and second-round 73 with another 73 in Tuesday's final 18 holes.

The Golden Eagles were one of the most balanced clubs on display at Jackson Country Club, with no player finishing lower than 27^th place in the field of 75 golfers.

Behind Kitts, Lee Maxwell was Tech's second finisher and led the Golden Eagles after two rounds, firing an even-par 72 in the first round and following with a second-round 75 and a final-round 79 for a combined score of 266.

Travis Ramsey posted a 78-78-71=227, Tyler Cassetty shot 77-74-78=229 and Mason Griffin finished at 78-77-75=230 to round out the Tech contingent.

Murray State's Patrick Newcomb won the tournament on a scorecard playoff after finishing tied for first place individually with Southern Illinois' Jake Erickson. Both shot a combined 217 for the tournament.

Tech finished two strokes ahead of both Jackson State and Murray State, who finished in a tie for fourth at 901. The rest of the field consisted of Lipscomb (909), Morehead State (910), Nicholls State (928), John A. Logan CC (935), Tennessee State (942), Union (946) and Bethel (986).