US COLLEGE NEWS

  Conor O'Neil in action. Image by Tom Ward Photography

Conor O'Neil and James Ross make top 15 in

South Carolina

Glasgow's Conor O'Neil, a freshman student at Michigan State University, and team-mate James Ross from Edinburgh finished joint 10th and joint 14th respectively in a field of 55 players for the Rees Jones Intercollegiate tournament which finished at Haig Point, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina on Tuesday

Over the Jones Signature Course - a very long one of 7,380yd with a par of 72 - Conor scored 80, 77 and 74 for 231 - the same total as Jacksonville University's Gavin St John Frost from Berkshire (77-76-78) - and Ross, pictured right, scored 81, 74 and 77 for a total of 232.

The winner by four shots was Matt Nagy (Kennesaw State) (70-73-73) with Chandler Brazeal (Wofford) (75-68-76) and Robert Karlsson (Liberty) (73-74-73) joint runners-up on 220.

Liberty University and Kennesaw State tied for the team title on 902. Michigan State (934) finished fifth in the 10-team field.
Conor O'Neil, who E-mailed the tournament information to Kirkwoodgolf, added:
"The highly-ranked Kennesaw State have a player who will be playing for Sweden in the Eisenhower Trophy in Argentina later this month and the guy who won the event, Matt Nagy, made the cut at the US Open at Bethpage Black. The course was a long 7,390 for two days and 7,490 for last day. It was also windy and the Bermuda grass was tough."

ROSS MILNE MAKES TOP SIX IN KANSAS

Ross Milne (Dodge City Community College) from Aboyne had one of his highest finishes yet in America in the Kansas Junior CC circuit of competitions. Ross, a sophomore (second-year student), came sixth in a field of 40 players at the No 3 event at Terrydone Golf Club, Andover, Kansas with rouonds of 73 and 84 for 157. He shared the lead after the first round.

Team-mates Alex Tiong (75-75) and Chirn Hau Tan (76-74) shared first place on 150. Dodge City CC (615) won the team title by 25 shots from runners-up Johnson County in a field of seven squads.

GAVIN HAY DOWN THE FIELD IN GEORGIA

Gavin Hay from Glasgow, a student at Carson-Newman College, finished joint 48th in a field of 75 for the Cougar Invitational at the Country Club of Columbus, Georgia.

Over a par-71 lay-out of 6,515yd, Gavin scored 75 and 76 for 151 - 13 shots behind the winner, Daniel Stapaff who had a pair of 69s.

Columbus State (576) won the team event with Carson-Newman (602) placed 11th.