NEWBERRY — Newberry had three men’s golfers selected all-South Atlantic Conference on Friday, matching Carson-Newman for the league lead.

Junior Spencer Skiff earned first-team honors on the strength of the league’s second-best adjusted scoring average. Fellow junior Carlos Leandro was named to the second team, with sophomore Ben Thompson earning honorable mention accolades.

Skiff, ranked a league-best 13th in Golfstat’s head-to-head rankings and 20th among Division II competitors in the Golfstat Cup, has had a dominant season. In eight tournament played this year, the Aiken native has a pair of wins, six top-10s, and one 11th-place result. Fourteen of his 24 rounds played this season have been at or below par.

His first win came at the Third Annual UNG Fall Invitational, finishing at an astonishing 15 under par for the tournament to help Newberry to its all-time 54-hole record at 33 strokes under par. He was five-under in all three rounds on his way to a three-stroke win over teammate Thompson.

He also took home individual medalist honors at the Newberry College Invitational in February at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, which has twice been named America’s toughest golf course by Golf Digest. He rebounded from shooting two-over in the first round to go three-under in the second and come within two strokes of the course record on the strength of a final round 65, seven strokes under par. He blistered the field by four strokes and helped Newberry to a 15-shot win.

Skiff has finished better than 89.4 percent of his competitors on a cumulative basis this season. This marks his third major honor this season after being named Division II Golfer of the Month by the Eastern College Athletic Conference in October and Newberry’s Chick-fil-A Student-Athlete of the Month in February.

Leandro earned second-team recognition for the second consecutive season. A steady performer throughout the season, Leandro earned a top-five and two top-10s in five tournaments played. One-third of his 15 rounds have been played at or below par. His adjusted scoring average was 73.02, good for sixth in the conference, and he defeated 85.0 percent of his competitors on individual leaderboards this season.

Leandro’s top performance came at The Ocean Course, where his three-under 69 in the second round propelled him to a fourth-place finish in support of Skiff at a stroke over par and gave Newberry two all-tournament selections. He also finished a team-best sixth at The Trojan at four over par and took 13th at the UNG Fall Invitational at three-under.

Thompson’s adjusted scoring average of 73.66 ranked 12th in the league. Thompson earned a pair of top-fives and three top-10s in his first season of intercollegiate competition. He finished second to Skiff at the UNG Fall Invitational at 12 under, paced Newberry at the Matt Dyas Invitational with a second-place finish a stroke under par, led the team at the Division I Cape Fear Intercollegiate, and landed 10th at the Bearcat Golf Classic.

Thompson has played seven of his 24 rounds at or below par, including a six-under 66 at the UNG Fall Invitational that represents Newberry’s second-lowest round of the season. He has finished higher than 78.3 percent of his competitors in tournament this season.

Leandro
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Leandro.jpgLeandro

Thompson
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Thompson.jpgThompson

Skiff
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Skiff.jpgSkiff

Staff Report