The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate
Osborn Captures Jerry Pate Title, UAB Finishes Third
10/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 11, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - One day after UAB junior Garrett Osborn torched Old Overton for rounds of 62-66, the Mountain Brook, Ala., product shot a modest two-under par 69 and won individual medalist honors at the 2005 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate with a 54-hole score of 197. UAB finished third in the team standings behind No. 6 Georgia Tech and No. 1 Georgia, which finished 1-2, respectively.
Osborn's 197 tied Graeme McDowell's 54-hole school record set at the 2002 Atlanta Intercollegiate. It is just the second sub-200 score for 54-holes in UAB history. His 62 on Monday set a new 18-hole mark for UAB, besting McDowell's 63, also set at the 2002 Atlanta Intercollegiate.
"I've been working pretty hard for the past few weeks on a couple of things," Osborn said. "I've been playing with my dad and my brother and practicing a lot lately. That, and I got a couple good breaks. My drives would kick one way or another and give me some good lies. It was a break or two away from being a different story. I shot well and got lucky, too."
Osborn's brother Peyton is a former All-Conference USA performer for UAB. He is currently playing on the Nationwide Tour.
"Everyone said the field we were playing against had some of the best golfers in the country in it," Osborn said. "I don't mean to sound cocky, but playing against Peyton all the time makes me think anyone I play, I can beat. I'm just competitive and when I can beat my brother by a stroke or two on Saturday, it gives me confidence going up against good competition."
Osborn won by nine strokes over Georgia's Chris Kirk and Brigham Young's Jake Ellison who tied for second place. Alabama's Gator Todd and Georgia Tech duo Cameron Tringale and Taylor Hall finished tied for fourth with 207s. The victory gave UAB its first individual medalist since Tigh VanLeeuwen won the Florida State Seminole Intercollegiate in March of 2004.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Osborn who stole the show on Tuesday for the Blazers. Senior Clark Brown fired a career-low 66 to tie four other golfers for low round of the day. Brown finished tied for 13th overall in the 60-person field. Freshman Zack Sucher followed Monday rounds of 69 and 74 with a one-over 72 Tuesday. His 215 for 54 holes was tied for 32nd overall. Kaylor Timmons tied for 50th with a 76-71-74-221. Freshman Josh Thompson trimmed five strokes from rounds two to three with a 74 on Tuesday to finish at 227 for the three rounds.
UAB's team score of 842 blasted the previous school record of 847 set at the SunTrust Gator Invitational hosted by Florida in 2002. UAB used team rounds of 279-282-281 to accomplish the feat. All three scores rank in the top 15 team rounds in school history.
"Well, Garrett certainly was a lot of the story for us," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "But Clark Brown shoots a 66 on Tuesday, Zack Sucher shoots 69 on Monday, Kaylor Timmons shoots a 71 in there ... all that adds up to a pretty good team effort. We've been pretty confident all along that we were good enough to compete against the best teams in the country. I guess we were right."
Two weeks after upsetting three ranked foes in their own Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, the Blazers trumped their own performance, beating seven ranked opponents in the Pate. UAB bested host Alabama (844, 4th) and Clemson (851, 7th) who are tied for 17th in the latest Golf Coaches Association of America poll. The Blazers also ousted No. 20 Auburn (8th, 853), No. 7 Brigham Young (5th, 847), No. 15 Augusta State (9th, 857), No. 22 Arizona (10th, 860) and No. 15 TCU (11th, 865). Unranked Tulsa was tied for fifth (847) while Vanderbilt finished in 12th place in the field with a 869.
UAB next travels to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Intercollegiate Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
Jerry Pate National Final Results in PDF Format
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