Pirates Finish Tied For 19th At NCAA Regional

FLORENCE, S.C. - The Armstrong Atlantic State men's golf team shot a 298 on Wednesday to finish tied for 19th at the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf South/Southeast Regional at the Robert Trent Jones Shoals Course in Florence, Ala.

The Pirates finished the regional with a 913 total, tying with Florida Tech. Host North Alabama captured the regional with an 868 total, winning by one stroke over Lynn (869). Barry (874), Columbus State (875) and GCSU (876) rounded out the top five, as those schools will advance to the NCAA DII National Championships next week in Blaine, Wash.

Senior Chris Wolfe shot a three-under-par 69 and finished the tournament tied for 12th with an even-par 216 total. Wolfe finished two shots out of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships as an individual qualifier as Barton's Jonathan Burke (-3, 213) and Florida Southern's Brian Richey (-2, 214) earned the two spots.

Junior Jon Wingate shot a 75 on Wednesday and finished the tournament tied for 78th with a 230 total, while sophomore Parker Gordon carded a 77 and finished in 95th place with a 235 total. Freshman Matthew Motes also shot a final-round 77 and finished tied for 96th with a 236 total. Sophomore David Patterson rounded out the AASU scoring with a 78, finishing 101st with a 241 total.

The Pirates lose two seniors from this season's squad - Wolfe and Justin Smith - and head coach Michael Butler returns six players for 2009-10.