Ferrara Leads Cards to Fifth at Emerald Coast Collegiate

Monday, March 4

Gulf Breeze, Fla.

All Day

University of Louisville

Emerald Coast Collegiate

Redshirt freshman Nick Ferrara bested the field by two strokes with a two-under-par final round 70

Ferrara Leads Cards to Fifth at Emerald Coast Collegiate

March 05, 2002 | Men's Golf

March 5, 2002

The story of the season for the University of Louisville's men's golf team has been the outstanding play of the young freshmen and that trend was no different in the final round of the Emerald Coast Collegiate as redshirt freshman Nick Ferrara paced the Cardinals to a fifth-place finish with a second-round 70, the low score on the day.

Making the first appearance of his collegiate career in the 11-team field hosted by West Florida, Ferrara got off to a rocky start on Monday when he carded a woeful round of 90, good enough for 58th out of 60 individual competitors. However, the pendulum swung full tilt on Tuesday as the Scottsdale, Arizona, native shot a two-under-par final-round 70 to best the rest of the field by two strokes.

The 20-stroke improvement between rounds moved Ferrara into a tie for 33rd with fellow freshman Mark Anderson who carded a disappointing second-round 83 after firing a solid 77 on Monday. For Anderson, who had come into the event on a hot streak after notching a fifth-place finish at the Beau Chene Collegiate Classic last week, the second-round 83 tied the high round of his collegiate career and marks only the second time the freshman has shot an 80-plus round in eight events.

Fellow freshman Brett Jones paced the Cardinals through the event with consistent rounds of 76 and 77 to finish tied for 16th-place. Jones has been the Cards' most consistent golfer during the spring season as he has carded the team's best finish in two of three events.

Senior Grant Sturgeon, who has struggled this spring after posting a blistering 72.00 stroke average in the fall, put together his most consistent event of the season with rounds of 79 and 76 to finish tied for 21st-place.

Senior Dean Halterman followed his opening-round 80 with a second-round 81 to finish tied for 36th.

As a team, the Cards maintained their position in the field after the opening-round with a final-round 304 to notch a fifth-place finish. The Cards' two-round 616 was 23 shots off the pace set by tournament champion and host school West Florida.

U of L returns to action March 16-17 at the El Diablo Invitational in Citrus Springs, Florida.

Fin.    School      Scores1   West Florida    301   292   5932   Illinois        306   298   6043   Drake           302   303   6054   Austin Peay     311   301   6125   Louisville      312   304   6166   Missouri        318   300   6187   Indiana         314   305   6198   E. Michigan     317   305   6229   Cincinnati      327   319   64610  Florida A&M     331   321   65311  Fla Atlantic    332   330   661
Fin.    Player             ScoresT-16    Brett Jones  76-77   153T-21    Grant Sturgeon    79-76   155T-33    Mark Anderson  77-83   160T-33    Nick Ferrara    90-70   160T-36    Dean Halterman    80-81   161