Senior All-American Matt Savage led the Seminoles in the final round of the Vulcan Intercollegiate.

All-American Savage leads Seminoles in final round with 68.

Feb. 6, 2009

KOHALA COAST, Hawaii - Senior All-American Matt Savage led Florida State with a four-under par 68 and the Seminole men's golf team posted the fourth best team score of the final day of play to finish in a tie for 10th place at the spring-season opening University of Hawaii-Hilo Vulcan Invitational at the Mauna Lani Resort.

No. 2 ranked Southern California earned the tournament championship as the Trojans outdistanced Washington by 11 strokes. The Trojans took the lead from the Huskies during the second round and held on to win the championship. Florida State finished in a tie for 10th place - one place behind Georgia Tech who was the only other ACC team participating in the event.

Savage finished the tournament with a personal tournament-best four-under par 68 and in a tie for 65th place in the final individual standings. He played his best golf of the three-round tournament in the final round after carding uncharacteristic scores of 81 in the first and second rounds. Savage's 68 in the final round allowed him to improve his individual placing by 31 positions after his first and second round scores.

Sophomore Drew Kittleson led Florida State as he finished in a tie for 15th place in the individual standings. He carded a career-best six-under par 66 in the second round and an even par 72 in the final round after finishing with an eight-over par 80 in the opening round. He was a total of six-under par over the final 36 holes after finishing at eight over par after the first 18 holes.

Freshman Brooks Koepka carded a three-under par 69 in the final round and finished in a tie for 43rd place with a three-round total of 224. He was three under par over the final 18 holes after finishing 11 over par in the first two rounds. Junior Cameron Knight who carded a one-over par 73 in the first round finished in a tied for 43rd place in the individual standings with a three-day total of 225.

"This was a great event and I believe it will be the beginning of a good spring season," said head coach Trey Jones. "We learned a great deal and look forward to our next tournament in Gainesville. We had four players play a good round this week but we need five players to play 54 holes and we will then start competiting for tournament titles."

Florida State will play its' next event in Gainesville, Fla., at the Gator Invitational Feb. 14-15. Florida State will play host to the Seminole Intercollegiate at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee March 6-8.

19th Annual Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate/Mauna Lani Resort
Kohala Coast, Hawaii/Par 72/Feb. 4-6, 2009/Final Florida State Results
10/17.   Florida State     311   293   286   890
T15.     Drew Kittleson    80    66    72    218
T39.     Brooks Koepka     78    77    69    224
T43.     Cameron Knight    73    75    77    225
T65.     Matt Savage       81    81    68    230
T80.     Seath Lauer       80    75    80    235

19th Annual Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate/Mauna Lani Resort
Kohala Coast, Hawaii/Par 72/Feb. 4-6, 2009/Final Team Results
1.   Southern Cal      851   T10.  Florida State      890
2.   Washington        862   T10.  Oklahoma           890
3.   Texas Christian   870   12.   UC Davis           892
4.   Stanford          872   13.   Hawaii-Hilo        910
5.   Oregon            873   14.   Fresno State       923
6.   Colorado          874   15.   Kansas             924
7.   Arizona State     875   16.   San Francisco      928
8.   Texas Tech        879   17.   Hawaii             947
9.   Georgia Tech      879