Power holes ace on way to first collegiate win
Seamus Power collected his first collegiate win in grand style today by taking the individual title at the Atlantic Sun Conference championships.
The Waterford golfer, in his first year at East Tennessee State University, was a two-shot victor at Sanctuary Cove in Waverly, Georgia, on Wednesday and led ETSU to the team title.
Power also became the first ETSU golfer to win a conference championship in his freshman year.
He even enjoyed a hole-in-one during Tuesday’s second round, eventually finishing at three-under-par 210 (73, 67, 70) for the tournament, two strokes better than North Florida’s Michael O’Neal.
Power’s ETSU team-mates chipped in for the team victory with Welsh Walker Cupper Rhys Davies shooting back-to-back 68s to finish tied for third, and Lisburn’s Gareth Shaw, also on the GB&Ireland panel this year, tying for fifth, while Limerick’s Cian McNamara tied for 22nd.
The Buccaneers finished with a team score of 16-over-par 868 (307-278-283), 14 strokes better than second-placed North Florida, with victory earning them their conference’s automatic place in next month’s NCAA Regionals, the next stepping stone towards reaching the national finals.
There was also a team victory to celebrate for Co Down’s Danielle McVeigh, whose Texas A&M women’s team successfully defended its title at the Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship at Ridgewood Country Club in Waco, Texas.
The Aggies, ranked 14th nationally, defeated Oklahoma State by five strokes with defending Big 12 individual champion Ashley Knoll taking second place behind champion Amanda Costner of Kansas (221) and freshman McVeigh tying for fourth (229).
The Irishwoman is next in action on May 10 at the NCAA Regionals in Ann Arbor, Michgan.
Southeastern Louisiana’s Irish duo of Peter O’Keeffe and Aaron O’Callaghan must wait until May 7 to discover if their team can progress to the same stage after the Lions had to settle for second place at the Southland Conference Championships in Kerrville, Texas,
on Wednesday.
Lamar University, ranked eighth in NCAA Division One men's golf, won the 54-hole tournament and proceed automatically into the Regionals, but O’Keeffe and O’Callaghan’s Lions, ranked number 33 nationally, have to see if they will receive an ‘at-large’ invitation to the NCAA Central Regional scheduled for May 17-19 in Illinois.
O’Keeffe scored a tie for seventh place at 216, alongside Donegal’s Thomas Kearney, on the University of Texas-San Antonio team, while O'Callaghan finished in 34th place at 230 after shooting a final round two-under-par 70.
Kearney’s Roadrunners finished third overall while Fergal Rafferty’s Sam Houston State's placed fourth with the Omagh man finishing 21st individually (225).
In Orlando, Florida, meanwhile, Belfast’s Jonny Caldwell tied for 19th as his University of South Alabama team finished the Sun Belt Conference tournament in eighth place.
