Tampa’s Eubank takes medalist honors
FRISCO, Texas – For the University of Tampa club golf team, the NCCGA is about having fun and bonding with one another.
But the Spartans like to win, and after a disappointing finish last fall, they entered the Spring 2023 National Collegiate Club Golf Association (NCCGA) National Championship motivated to take home the top prize.
Overcoming a five-shot deficit entering the final round, Tampa (26-over-par 746) carded a 10-over-par 370 on Sunday to win by three strokes over Grand Canyon University (29-over-par 749) at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Ohio State University (32-over-par 752), the leader entering Sunday, finished in third place. The University of Florida (35-over-par 755) finished fourth, followed by Brown University and Rutgers University who tied for fifth at 36-over-par 756.
The victory was Tampa’s first NCCGA National Championship.
“Last year in Vegas, we wanted it really bad, but came in ninth,” said Tampa team captain Jared LeClerc. “We’ve come close many times, and this season we really wanted it. So we came here, we were motivated and we got it done.”
Tampa was led to victory by George Eubank (8-under-par 136), who won the individual title by five strokes over Ohio State’s Cameron Madden (3-under-par 141).
Eubank, who led wire-to-wire, credited his success to the confidence boost of a 5-under-par 67 in the opening round on the Ackerman-Allen Course.
“I came off yesterday, and didn’t really do anything wrong,” said Eubank. “I missed one drive that went into a hazard, but other than that, I birdied all the par fives and felt really good about my game going into today. And yes, I was a little nervous at times, but overall, after yesterday’s round, I just had so much confidence.”
His final-round, 3-under-par 69 included four birdies on the front nine. Although the individual win meant a lot to him, Eubank was more excited that his performance helped Tampa win the team championship.
“I think I enjoy seeing the team win more than just myself,” he said. “Because after the round, you know, when we go back, we all celebrate as one. And it was kind of that antsy feeling we were all coming in and Grand Canyon still had like two or three holes left, with seven being one of them, which is a drivable par four. And so we were a little antsy. And then once we got the final, it was all excitement.”
Two players had holes-in-one on Sunday: Eric Parmenter from Ohio State sunk his with an 8-iron on the par-3, 168-yard 5th hole on the Kampen-Cosler Course; Virginia Tech’s George Clark recorded his on the par-3, 205-yard 17th hole on the Ackerman-Allen Course.
For more information about the NCCGA and NCCGA Nationals, visit nccga.org.
