Host Roadrunners win Roadrunner Classic golf tournament

Published 10:27 am Wednesday, April 11, 2018

ROCKY FACE, Ga. — The first-place trophy at the Roadrunner Classic was a roughly 30-pound iron and wood sculpture. Too heavy for the winners to parade around with after it was awarded, it could have caused logistical issues for a visiting team having to pack it up and carry it back to their school.

So the tournament host Dalton State College Roadrunners just did everyone a favor and made sure it never left town.

Powered by a blistering first day on Monday, Dalton State cruised to the tournament title at The Farm, shooting a 306 in Tuesday’s final round, totaling 873 for the three-round event. The Roadrunners were 17 shots clear of second place Keiser University.

“No doubt about it, got to keep it home,” Dalton State’s P.J. Shields said of the trophy.

Lifted by a desire to successfully defend his home course, Dalton State’s S.M. Lee was the top individual finisher. His 1-over-par 73 on Tuesday gave him an 8-under 208, four shots ahead of Andrew Williamson of Wayland Baptist University.

“That was the goal. I wasn’t letting anyone beat me at my home course,” Lee said. “That was definitely my mindset this week.”

Lee, last year’s Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the NAIA Player of the Year, has won victories all over the country. But the one at the tournament that bears his team’s name is among the most prestigious to him.

“This would add to my record of wins and that’s what I want for the next two tournaments, too, but it means a lot that I won at my home tournament,” he said. “I really tried hard this week, I really practiced for it this week and I’m glad I came out with a win.”

Shields, who totaled an even-par 216 and finished in third place, said playing at home produced an added drive to perform well.

“You want to show the community what we’re capable of,” Shields said. “I think if we all come together we can win a national championship. We wanted to display that out here. It helps getting to play this course a lot. It’s more comfortable than going out to a random course and playing. You want to come up here and show everybody what you can do.”

While The Farm is considered Dalton State’s home course, Lee noted more than just playing in familiar surroundings went into the team’s performance.

“I’m happy for my team. They definitely deserved this win this week,” he said. “It was at our home course, people might say we had an advantage but we definitely played well. We didn’t win by just it being our home course, we won by playing well. We had a good week.”

However, for Ben Rebne, playing at The Farm did give a confidence boost to the players in knowing what they’re capable of.

“We don’t really think about it that much because it’s our home course and we know how tough it is,” Rebne said. “We know if we go out there and do what we need to do and we play how we usually play out here that we’ll get the job done.”

Rebne was third for Dalton State and tied for 11th overall, shooting a 224. Also for the Roadrunners, Dalton Johnson was tied for 15th in the field of 64 with a 227. Chase Cole tied for 27th with a 231.

Tuesday’s final round played drastically different than the first two rounds on Monday. The Roadrunners built a 15-shot lead after the first day but conditions on Tuesday bunched all the teams up. No one in the field broke par in the final round.

“Much tougher than (Monday),” Shields said. “(Monday) there wasn’t hardly any wind at all, easier pins. Today was pretty brutal.”

“It was a lot windier,” Lee added. “(Monday) was very calm, today the wind gusted very hard. The pin placements were not easy, they were harder than yesterday’s, and yesterday’s were pretty tough. That definitely made this golf course a couple strokes harder.”

Dalton State is ranked third in the country as it heads into next week’s Southern States Athletic Conference championship and then the NAIA national tournament in mid-May. This week’s field included No. 1 Oklahoma City, which finished third, and seven of the top 10 ranked teams.

Performing so well gives the Roadrunners a boost heading into the season’s biggest tournaments.

“With the No. 1 team being here, we got like eight or nine of the top 15 teams, that’s huge taking a win over them right before conference and nationals,” Rebne said. “It definitely gives us motivation to push through at nationals.”