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Liberty Flames; Michigan State's Piot Win In Harris
 HARRIS---Men's golf teams from ten universities wrappesd up play on the Labor Day holiday Monday at the Island Resort Intercollegiate event at the Sage Run Golf Course in Harris. Nine of the teams are NCAA-Division One schools, with Northern Michigan University being the only D-2 school in the field. Liberty University of Virginia edged Purdue University by one stroke, 855-856, to win the team title. The Flames were, as a team, nine under par for the 54-hole event.  Michigan State University finished fifth with 860. MSU's James Piot won the individual championship going away. Piot shot a nine-under par 207 (68-70-69), taking the title by three strokes over Purdue's Nick Dentino, Liberty's Kieran Vincent, and Purdue's Joe Weller. They all finished at -6, 210. "On the greens, I didn't have my all-best-week, I'm not going to lie," Piot said. "But I struck the ball so well that I didn't give myself too many opportunities for bogies. So I think that definitely helped out for the low score this weekend." Central Florida's Clement Charmasson ended up fifth with a -5, 209. There were three Upper Peninsula natives on the course this weekend. Bryce Douglas of Gladstone plays for the University of Detroit Mercy. He finished in 68th place, shooting a 21-over-par 237. He shot his best round on Monday, a three-over-par 75.  Carter Mason of Negaunee ended up in 73rd place, finishing 30-over-par, 246. Northern Michigan Coach Bob Bastian says it was a good experience for his guys. "It's awesome to see how these players, the top-level players, hit the ball, and what they do maybe just a little bit better than us," Bastian said. "But at the same time, what we can do to get a little bit better than our compatition that we play on." The tournament was started by South Dakota State University Coach Casey VanDamme, who graduated from Mid Peninsula High School. Michigan State University Press Release follows: Michigan State junior James Piot claimed his first career individual title at the Island Resort Intercollegiate on Sunday at Sage Run Golf Club in the Upper Peninsula. Piot was the co-leader after two rounds and turned in a 3-under-par 69 to surge to the title. As a team, the Spartans shot the best round of the tournament by any team on Sunday with a 9-under-par 279. MSU ended up 4-under-par 860 (289-292-279) to take fifth place, finishing just one shot out of third place and only four back of tournament champ Purdue.  "As a team, it's important that we made up a lot of shots today. It was similar to the first two rounds, but today we finished strong and it was the round of the tournament. It's a good group, we just have to grow up a bit." Piot was under par in all three rounds at Sage Run and his 207 was two shots better than his previous career best. The native of Canton was even through 14 holes and then went on to birdie three of the final four, including each of the last two. Piot wound up finishing three strokes ahead of a trio of players that tied for second place. Sophomore Troy Taylor II had his best round of the season-opening tournament on Sunday with a 3-under-par 69, with the help of three birdies over the final three holes. Taylor's performance pushed him into the top 10 as he tied for eighth place at 2-under-par 214 (73-72-69). Freshman Bradley Smithson recorded the lowest round of any player in the entire tournament with a course-record 6-under-par 66 on Sunday.  "I'm really proud of Troy and Brad," Lubahn said. "They're going to be very good for us and they came up big when we needed them today." Andrew Walker and Zach Rosendale shot matching 4-over-par 75s on Sunday and both finished tied for 38thplace at 8-over-par 224. Redshirt sophomore Landon Ernst was the top finisher of Spartans that played individually, placing 22nd at 4-over-par 220 (72-70-78). The Spartans are back in action Sept. 8-9 at the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minnesota. Liberty University Press Release follows: Liberty, who finished last year ranked No. 22 in the country, rallied late to climb atop the leaderboard at the end of the day.  The Flames' starting five carded five birdies during the closing three holes at the Sage Run Golf Course (par 72, 7,375 yards) to claim the program's 30th NCAA Division I team tournament title. The Flames' strong during closing stretch allowed Liberty to move ahead of Purdue, who finished in second place with an 8-under par 856 (280-285-291). The South Dakota State hosted tournament was a new event on the Flames' fall slate and was the season opener for the 10-team field.  The Boilermakers' counting team played the final three holes in 2-over par, while Liberty played the final trio of holes in 4-under par, making up the difference.
East Carolina University Press Release follows:
Senior Blake Taylor and junior Tim Bunten tied for sixth-place and the ECU men's golf team opened the 2019-20 campaign tied for third-place at the Island Resort Invitational on Sunday and Monday. The Pirates were alone in second-place and only four shots off the lead after 36 holes Sunday at 7-under-par, but shot 2-over-par as team Monday and slipped into a tie with fellow American Athletic Conference member UCF for third at 5-under-par 859 (282-287-290).  Liberty finished one stroke ahead of Purdue to claim the team title at 9-under-par 855 (285-285-285). The Boilermakers held a four shot lead entering the final round, but fired a 3-over-par 291 Monday to fall to second-place at 8-under-par 856 (280-285-2981), while the Flames shot 3-under-par for the third consecutive round. Taylor posted his 10th career top 10 finish, shooting 3-under-par 213 (72-69-72), with a second round 69 sandwiched between two rounds of par 72. He finished the tournament with an eagle on the par-5 18. Bunten earned his first career top 10 finish, opening with a first round of 3-under 69, followed by a second round of 2-under-par 70 before closing with a final round of 2-over par 74. Sophomore A.J. Beechler finished tied for 18th at 3-over-par 219 (71-75-73) with junior Stephen Carrolltying for 22nd at 4-over-par 220 (75-74-71) and sophomore Attie Giles tying for 27th at 5-over-par 221 (71-75-73). "We definitely had contributions from everyone this tournament with every player shooting at least one round under par," Sapp said. "It is great to be in the hunt to win this early in the season and is an experience our guys can definitely build upon." ECU returns to the links Sept. 14-15 at the Rod Myers Invitational at the Duke Golf Club in Durham.
 "It is great to finish on a positive note this week," UK head coach Brian Craig said. "I am so proud of the guys for the last two rounds after a tough start. We also had very solid performances by two freshmen, Alex Goff and Cooper Parks, along with junior, Allen Hamilton. I like this team and think we are going to make huge improvements throughout the season."  Freshman Cooper Parks tied for 18th in his first collegiate tournament. Parks shot 76-71-72 with his final two rounds at 1-under and even par. The xxx, Kentucky, native fought off a tough start with an eagle at the par-five 12th. At the Sage Run Golf Club, the Northern Michigan University Men's Golf team completed their first event of the season as they took part in the Island Resort Intercollegiate against eight NCAA Division I Universities plus another Division II squad.
The Wildcats were led by senior Chris Black (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), who posted a final score of 236 after rounds of 78, 77 and 81 to finish 67th.
 Tied for 70th was senior Kurtis Fontinha (Penticton, B.C.) with rounds of 81, 77 and 82 to give him a final score of 240. Senior Kyle Pouliot (Gladstone, Mich.) scored 80, 78 and 85 to finish 72nd with a final score of 243. Sophomore Carter Mason ( Negaunee, Mich.) was right behind in 73rd place with a total score of 246 and rounds of 78, 83 and 85. The Wildcats also had freshman Sky Nam ( Garden Grove, Calif.) compete and finish 75th after he shot rounds of 92, 87 and 98 in his first career collegiate event.
 The event was hosted by South Dakota State at the par 72, 7,375-yard Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Michigan. Hil posted a 226 (75-74-77) for a share of 42nd as did senior Zack Tenerowicz (75-72-79), while sophomore Anthony Occhiuto ended with a 227 (75-77-75) for 48th overall.
 Jacob Otta recorded a team-best five birdies in round three for the Jackrabbits. The Sioux Falls native finished tied for 22nd after a consistent three rounds, 74-73-73—220 (+4).
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