Thursday, March 11, 2010

Humacao, Puerto Rico - It certainly wasn't a cake walk in the final round, but USC Upstate got inspired play from Brian Horton and Josh Gallman and held off the competition to win the Palmas Del Mar Collegiate Classic Wednesday afternoon. Horton, who shot a 67 in the final round, stormed into a share of the individual title with teammate Josh Gallman.

Upstate earned its first team win of the season and the first for the Spartans in over two years when Upstate won the BSC Invitational on Feb. 26, 2008. The Spartans have now claimed three team tournament championships as members of Division I, winning at the Rutgers Invitational in the program's first tournament playing on the Division I level in 2007, the BSC Invitational and, now, the Palmas Del Mar Collegiate Classic.

Horton and Gallman claimed a program-first by becoming the first Spartans to tie for an individual championship, winning with a 5-under-par total. It marks Horton's first collegiate title, while Gallman picked up his program-record sixth individual win. In an unofficial playoff for the medalist plaque, Horton holed out on his second shot on the first playoff hole, a par-4, to take home the plaque. Officially, Horton and Gallman are co-champions of the tournament.

"I finally got my act together and played like I know how to play," said Horton, from nearby Boiling Springs, S.C. "Before we left, Coach talked to me about my confidence level. I started thinking about what we talked about and knew that I was capable of hitting the shots that everyone else could to win the tournament. I just tried to keep my focus and hit good shots. I made some putts and was able to win the tournament."