Date Posted: 4/2/2008

BRASELTON, Ga. - At Chateau Elan's Woodlands Course, the host course for the 2008 Atlantic Sun Men's Golf Championship, Mercer's Andrew An and Kennesaw State won titles at the Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational

An (72-73-70=215) continued his stellar play by firing a one-under par in the final round to tie second-round co-leader Chris Wolfe (70-71-74=215) of Armstrong Atlantic and Central Arkansas’ Gideon Pienaar (72-71-72=215) for first place.

“I'm really proud of the way Drew (An) played today,” added Tredway. “His first college victory didn’t come easy, but they never do. He managed a bogie-free round and just played smart golf. I'm really happy for him.”

An’s steady play saw him record 17 pars and one birdie on the par-four, 416-yard seventh hole in round three.

“The course fit my eye and I felt comfortable out there,” said An. “I was just focused on making birdies and pars.”

Kennesaw State (296-285-297-878), who held a 24-stroke lead heading into the final 18, used a solid all-around team performance to best their closest competitor, Campbell, by 22 strokes. All five Owl golfers finished in the top 25, led by J.P. Putnam's fifth place showing.

"Our guys went out there today and did what they needed to do to seal the deal," said Kennesaw State head coach Blake Smart on his team's first win of the year. "I have been saying all season that we would need a team performance to get ourselves into the winners circle, and we turned one in this week."

Putnam (78-69-72-219) followed up a two-under par second round 69 with a solid final round 72 on a day that saw only five golfers in the entire field record par or better rounds. The sophomore from Woodstock, Ga., finished third in par 5 scoring (4.78) and fifth in par 4 scoring (4.09) and birdies (9). It was Putnam's second top 5 finish since joining the Owls at the beginning of the spring season.

Oliver West, who held a share of the lead after 36 holes, fell back a few spots after closing with a 79, but still managed his fourth top 10 finish of the spring. West birdied his last hole of the day to move up to solo sixth. Though he only managed to find the red numbers once in the final 18, West finished tied for fourth in both birdies (10) and par 4 scoring (4.06)

Matthew Nagy and Michael Tulacz rounded out the scoring for the Owls on Tuesday, finishing tied for 11th and 13th respectively. Nagy led the field in par 5 scoring (4.44) after going five-under par on the long holes, and finished third in pars with 35.

Tulacz matched Putnam for the Owls lowest round of the day, using the strength of a three-under par backside to move up the leaderboard from 15th. Had he not been derailed by a double-bogey on his second to last hole, the Owls junior would have posted a one-under round and his first top 10 finish since the Sam Hall Intercollegiate in November when he finished ninth.

Wesley Sheard, who contributed scores in the first two rounds, couldn't find the red numbers on Tuesday, closing with an 81 to finish in solo 21st in his first action since the Owls first tournament of the spring.

"Hopefully we can ride the momentum of this win into Arizona next week," added Smart. "We got a good feel for this course this week, which should help us in a few weeks when we return for the A-Sun Championship."

Four of the top five teams represent the Atlantic Sun Conference, as Campbell (306-299-295-900), Gardner-Webb (315-298-296-909), and Mercer (313-313-287-913) joined KSU at the top of the pack. Division II power, Armstrong Atlantic, rounded out the top five after closing with a 302. The Bears turned in the lowest team round of the day, finishing with a three-over par 287 to move up the leaderboard seven spots.

Related Links:
 • Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational Results