Men's golf team places fifth at national tournament
The Eastern Florida State College men's golf team finished fifth in the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament Friday afternoon at Odessa Country Club in Odessa, Texas.
The Titans shot a 1-over 289 in the final round to post their best finish since 2017 at the national tournament.
"Think of this, ladies go to national tournament ranked sixth and finish sixth, men come in ranked fifth and place fifth – strange. Proud of the guys, they played hard all week," Eastern Florida State men's golf coach Jamie Howell said.
Sophomore John Houchin finished with a birdie on No. 18 to post a 2-under 70 to finish the tournament fourth overall at 4-under for the four rounds. The Merritt Island native was named a first team All-American after the tournament.
Teammate and fellow sophomore Drew Lanier had a birdie on No. 15 to go one-under for the day and finished with three straight pars to place 10th overall at 1-under par. The Maitland native was named a second team All-American after the tournament.
"Really proud of John and Drew, both All-Americans and it is really nice to have two," Howell said. "John has had a steady year and today's round exemplifies that, he just kept getting better and played hard until the end. Drew has been steady all year and has gotten better as the tournament went along, just proud of both of them."
Robert Greninger birdied two of the final four holes to finish even par in the final round and finished his first national tournament tied for 34th overall at 6-over.
Brandon Boncore started his final round with three straight birdies and finished the round with a 76 while Matt Gauntlett shot a 78.
For Gauntlett, Lanier and Houchin it was the final round as a member of the Titans.
"It is going to be strange, Covid has allowed me to have a couple of these guys a third year, it has been a good group and things will start to look quite a bit different next year," Howell said.
Eastern Florida State College has competed in the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament in 19 straight seasons.
