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Moccasin Men's Golf

EUSTAQUIO WINS FLORIDA AMATEUR, EVELYN THIRD

TEQUESTA - June 22 - Florida Southern's Jude Eustaquio fired a course record 4-under par 66 in the final round Sunday to win the 91st Florida State Amateur Championship at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta. 
 
Eustaquio posted the only under par total of the Championship at 2-under par 280 for the four rounds. In the first round, Eustaquio carded a 2-under par 68 on the par 70 Hills Course for the low round of that day. Eustaquio jumped to the top of the leader board after shooting a second round even par 72 on the Village Course. Playing the Hills Course on the weekend, Eustaquio shot a 74 in the third round to trail the leader by one stroke heading into the final round of play. “I was very confident,” said Eustaquio about sitting one back from leader Garrett Morrison. “I knew what I had to do to win.”

In the final round, Eustaquio started strong with a birdie on the 2nd hole after holing out from the bunker. “That was a big momentum swing,” said Eustaquio. “I had a plug lie on the lip and just pulled it back for the birdie.” With a birdie on the 4th hole, Eustaquio made his only bogey of the round on #6 and then recovered with a birdie on seven. After making the turn at 2-under par 33, Eustaquio continued to make birdie on hole #10 to break away from the field. Eustaquio recorded all pars on holes 11-17 and finished with a birdie on 18 after his approach shot left him eight feet from the hole. “I just tried to make pars and if I hit a good shot capitalize on it,” said Eustaquio. Eustaquio matched his front nine with a 2-under par 33 on the back nine to run away with the title by six strokes. “This win is up there,” said Eustaquio. “It’s definitely one of my best feats.”

This victory adds to Eustaquio’s 2004 Boys Junior Championship title. At Florida Southern, Eustaquio was runner-up in the Division II Men's Championship and received the Phil Mickelson Award for the most outstanding freshman in Division II Men's Golf.

Third round leader Morrison fell to second place after carding a final round 73. Morrison shot a 72-69 in the first two rounds and led after three rounds shooting even par. For the Championship, Morrison finished six back from Eustaquio with a 286 total. Three players tied for third place by shooting a four-round total of 290. Eustaquio’s Moccasin teammate, Danny Evelyn had rounds of 74-77-68-71. Robbie Wight shot a 74-70 and finished with a pair of 73’s.  David Johnson carded a 72-75-67-76 for his share of third place.

Eustaquio receives a crystal vase and his name inscribed on the Clarence Camp Championship Trophy. The top ten plus ties receive an exemption into next year’s Florida State Amateur Championship at TPC Sawgrass. 

Story courtesy Florida State Amateur Golf Association

 

FORMER MOCCASIN ROCCO MEDIATE BATTLES
TIGER WOODS FOR 91 HOLES AT U.S. OPEN


Rocco Mediate

 Former Moccasin golfer Rocco Mediate put himself and Florida Southern in the national spotlight with his performance at the 2008 U.S. Open, as the 45-year-old Mediate matched Tiger Woods for 90 holes before falling in a sudden-death playoff. His effort caught the attention of even the most casual golf fan.

Entering the U.S. Open as the PGA Tour's 158th ranked player, Mediate forced Woods to birdie the 18th hole on Sunday's scheduled final round to force an 18-hole playoff Monday. The two golfers fought back and forth with Mediate leading by two strokes at one point, before Woods rallied to tie the match and force a sudden-death scenario. Mediate bogeyed the 19th-hole of the playoff, while Woods captured his 14th major title by making par.

Mediate, who played on Florida Southern's 1983 and 1984 teams, has been a professional since 1985 and has earned over $14 million in his career. While this year's U.S. Open brought him his most national attention, he has five victories on the PGA Tour - the Doral-Ryder Open in 1991, the K-Mart Greater Greensboro Open in 1993, the Phoenix Open in 1999, the Buick Open in 2000 and the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic in 2002.
 

Mediate graduated from Hempfield (Pa.) High School in 1980 and was a three-year member of the golf team. He originally enrolled at California University (Pa.) before transferring to Florida Southern to play for coach Charley Matlock. With the Moccasins, he led the team in stroke average in 1983 (74.89) and 1984 (72.66). He was the 1983 Sunshine State Conference champion and led FSC to the team title. At the 1983 NCAA Division II Championship, he placed 11th to lead the Moccasins to a tie for fourth place, earning second-team All-America recognition. In 1984, with Lee Janzen (a two-time winner of the U.S. Open) as one of Mediate's teammates, the Moccasins repeated as SSC champions. They went on to finish second at the Division II Championship in Mediate's home state of Pennsylvania, as he earned first-team All-America recognition.

His best previous U.S. Open finish had been fourth in 2001. He tied for sixth in the 2005 U.S. Open. In the 2006 Masters, he was tied for fourth through 54 holes before back problems caused him to drop out of contention.

His performance in the 2008 U.S. Open moved him up to #48 in the rankings.


Lee Janzen won the U.S. Open in 1993 and 1998.

MORE HONORS FOR EUSTAQUIO 

The Moccasins' Jude Eustaquio added more honors to his resume following his runner-up finish at the Division II Men's Championship in Houston, Texas, Saturday.  The redshirt freshman received the Phil Mickelson Award, designating him as the most outstanding freshman in Division II Men's Golf.  That award also put him on the All-Freshman Team selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America.  In addition, Eustaquio was one of nine players named to the GCAA Division II first-team All-America squad.  He becomes the 28th Moccasin golfer to earn first-team All-America honors and the first since Greg Koch received the honor in 2006. 

WEST FLORIDA WINS NATIONAL TITLE IN 3-TEAM PLAYOFF
WHILE EUSTAQUIO IS SECOND IN INDIVIDUAL PLAYOFF

HOUSTON, TX - There was a fantastic finish at the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, and once again Florida Southern was involved. While the Moccasins weren't in position at the end to claim the national title, a Moccasin golfer was.

Unfortunately, freshman Jude Eustaquio came up just a little bit short as he came back from sixth place at the start of the day, took the lead into the clubhouse, but lost in a playoff to Jeff Goff of South Carolina-Aiken. It was Eustaquio's third runner-up finish of the postseason, and the second time it came in a playoff.

Eustaquio's finish was the highest for a Moccasin golfer in the national tournament since Steve Sokol won it in 2001. He's the eighth Moccasin to finish as runner-up in addition to six medalists. Three notables on that list (Tom Patri, Lee Janzen and Jeff Klauk) won the national tournament after finishing second at some point earlier in their careers.

The playoff win by Goff was only part of perhaps the best finish for any Division II national tournament in its 46-year history. West Florida won the team title in similar fashion, by defeating St. Edward's (TX) and North Alabama in a three-way playoff. It was the first time the national title had ever been decided in a playoff, and all three teams had the lead at some point late in the day.

Eustaquio had led after round one and was tied for the lead after round two before slipping into a tie for sixth at the end of round three. He rallied back on Saturday, starting the final round with three birdies on the first five holes. Finishing much earlier than the other contenders, Eustaquio then had to wait, and hope his two-under par 68 was enough to get him back into the lead position.

It was, but only barely. Jarin Todd of Sonoma State finished his round at the same time, but even playing his final nine holes at five-under, with an eagle on one of them, wasn't enough to catch Eustaquio. He needed another eagle on his last hole of the day to force a tie, but instead got a birdie to finish one stroke behind.

With Todd out of the way, the attention fell on four remaining golfers who all had a legitimate chance to force either a tie or take the lead. One of them was Goff, who was tied with Eustaquio with four holes remaining. He briefly took the lead with a birdie, but a bogey two holes later brought him back. With a chance to again take the lead on his final hole, Goff was unable to do so, having to settle for a par and a tie score at the end of the round.

Western Washington's Sean Packer also gave chase later in the day and was one stroke behind both Eustaquio and Goff late in his round. A birdie on any of his final four holes would have forced a three-way tie, but he shot par on all of them, and like Todd from Sonoma State, he too finished one stroke off the pace.

That left two West Florida golfers, Kyle Scott and Matthew Galloway, who were still on the course. They had started the day 1-2 in the standings, but Scott got off to a rough start and finished the day two-over. He still had a chance though when a birdie on #17 got him back within one stroke of the lead, but he was unable to capitalize and finished tied for third with Packer. Galloway got off to a better start than his teammate, but stumbled late and also finished one stroke behind.

As a team, Florida Southern fell out of the running for the title before Saturday's final round, but the Moccasins didn't play like it. Instead, they played their best golf of the tournament, shooting an even-par 280, counting scores of 68, 70, 71 and 71. That allowed the Mocs to jump all the way from 13th place to their final position of sixth. Eustaquio, Danny Eveleyn, Matt Stauch and Brian Richey combined for seven birdies on the front nine and all four of them played the back nine at even par.

Even without Florida Southern involved, the championship race was a memorable fight. Five teams went into the final round within eight strokes of the lead, topped by West Florida. The Argonauts were up by four over Georgia College when the day began and both teams were among the last to tee off.

Before either of them could finish though, St. Edward's had stolen the lead, racing from an eight-stroke deficit on the strength of a six-under par 274. That sent the Hilltoppers to the clubhouse leading West Florida by one stroke and Georgia College by two, but that was before North Alabama got hot.

The Lions played holes 15, 16 and 17 at five-under, to not only slip past West Florida but pull even with St. Edward's. The Lions then had their first three players all par the final hole, leaving the score knotted. Wes Smith came in next for UNA with yet another par on 18, but the Lions' final golfer was a non-counter on Saturday and his par did nothing to change the team score.

There was more to the story though. As North Alabama finished its round, West Florida was also finishing. The Argonauts could have pulled ahead of both North Alabama and St. Edward's, or they could have finished in third, depending on what Scott and Galloway did on their final hole. Both golfers ended up with a par, bringing a third team into the playoff.

West Florida went on to win it, capturing its second national championship this decade. The Argonauts also won in 2001. This one came after they had been next-to-last in the 20-team field at the end of the first round.

While 2008 marked the first time a playoff format had to be used, it nearly happened in 2007. Barry won that national tournament with a one-stroke victory over South Carolina-Spartanburg, with Florida Southern only two strokes back and Columbus State three.

The 2002 national tournament was also decided by one stroke when Rollins edged Cal State-Chico, while the 1969 and 1966 tournaments also had one-stroke margins.