Mercer Finishes 13th in Brickyard, Another Successful Tournament in Macon

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor/Columnist


The Bears finished 13th in this year’s edition of the Brickyard Collegiate, beating out Gonzaga and Boston College in the 15-team field. Although they didn’t grab the headlines at the Brickyard by Riverside Golf Club here in Macon, the tournament once again grabbed national attention by bringing the biggest names in the college golf world to middle Georgia.

Georgia squeaked out a tournament victory over the reigning Division I National Champions, Augusta State, by one stroke. In a fitting fashion, Macon native Russell Henley, a senior for the Bulldogs, won the individual championship for the 2nd year in a row, posting a three-day total of 206 (-10) beating out runner up Carter Newman of Augusta State by four strokes.

For Mercer, Stefan Labuschagne had the best individual finish, tying for 35th overall at 222 (+6) with respectable rounds of 75, 72, 75. Josh Cone followed with a tie for 39th place finish after a low round of 70 on Sunday, outpacing his teammates Matt Kocolowski (T-45th, +9), John Gregory Joseph (T-58th, +12), Mookie DeMoss (T-75th, +18), Thomas Holmes (T-75th, +18), and Alex Street (82nd, +27).

"I believe my team is really close to breaking through,” said head coach Andrew Tredway. “The past several years the road to the national championship has come through Macon and the Brickyard collegiate. I would say we are closer than ever to having that ability. On paper beating finishing 13th isn't that great, but looking at stroke differential is huge. We're not 100 shots back of the leaders,” he added.

Perhaps the small victories that came during the tournament were beating major schools Gonzaga and Boston College, known for their college basketball teams and strong academics.

“It really comes down to little things: chipping, putting, decision making,” said Tredway. “We are good ballstrikers and we can hang with anyone in that department.”

Ranked #120 in the nation by Golfstat.com, the team still aims to move up in the rankings in hopes of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, the road to the NCAAs will come through winning the Atlantic Sun Championship next April at Chateau Elan in Duluth, Georgia. Looking to wrap up their fall season on a strong note, the men’s team will travel to tee it up at the Memphis Intercollegiate at the Colonial Country club in Memphis, Tennessee.