Coyne Takes Second, Marauders Fifth at NCAA Atlantic/East Super Regional

Monday, May 6

Wheeling, WV

All Day

Millersville University

NCAA Atlantic/East Super Regional

Coyne Takes Second, Marauders Fifth at NCAA Atlantic/East Super Regional

5/8/2013 7:32:00 PM | Men's Golf

Individual Leaderboard | Team Leaderboard

Wheeling, W.V. – Robert Coyne finished second, qualifying for the 2013 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, but the Marauders missed out as a team, finishing fifth overall on the final day of the NCAA Atlantic/East Super Regional Wednesday, shooting a 17-over-par 301 to finish with a three-day team total of 906, four shots away from grabbing the team's first NCAA Championship berth since 2003.

Coyne missed out on his bid to become the first Millersville Atlantic Regional winner since Chad Schulze in 2000. An up-and-down performance on the final day saw him shoot 1-over-par 72 after entering day three with the lead. He finished the tournament with a 2-over-par score of 215. Indiana's (Pa.) Zack Kempa took home the individual title, edging Coyne by a stroke, and Kempa's Crimson Hawk team grabbed the team title as well.

Kevin Davis did his part to keep the team in the race to the end. He shot a personal tournament best 2-over-par 73, including masterful play with two birdies on the front nine. Davis had a dangerous predicament on hole eight, a par-5, but escaped with his second birdie of the day when he hit an amazing third shot out of a rough patch of grass beneath a tree about 120 yards from the hole.

Davis' other miraculous shot on hole 15 resulted in a three-shot par score. After burying himself in the bunker, his chip onto the green couldn't have put him in better position to save par for the hole. He finished the day and the tournament with the second-best score on the team to Coyne, placing him in a tie for 10^th with a 12-over-par 222.

While Davis was busy helping out the team score, Coyne was doing his best to hold off Kempa for the individual title. The junior Downingtown native was 2-under through the first 10 holes of play, but became visibly upset with himself and his play after bogeying back-to-back holes on 11 and 12. Kempa took advantage and made his charge. After bogeying two of the first four holes, IUP's top player birdied back-to-back holes on the fifth and sixth, then grabbed another birdie on the eighth hole.

After birdying three of four holes, Kempa played steady and made par on his final 10 holes coming into the clubhouse. With the score tied on the 16^th green, Coyne three-putted for a bogey to fall one shot back, but had his chance on the 18^th to tie Kempa and send the regional to a sudden-death playoff. His 20-foot birdie attempt came up just short, and Kempa sunk his par putt to win the title.

Coyne's second-place finish vaults him into the 2013 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship as an individual, and for getting there, he will get an added bonus. Millersville serves as the host institution for the national championships at Hershey, Pa. from May 19-24. The five-day event is played at the East Course of the Hershey Country Club. Volunteers for the event are still needed. If you would like more information about volunteering for the national championships, please click here.