Host North Florida captures John Hayt Collegiate

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (February 26, 2017) -- Chalk it up as the first win of the season for North Florida. On a day where no team was able to break par at Sawgrass Country Club the host Ospreys were able to hold onto their 36-hole John Hayt Collegiate lead to finish 7-over and ahead of runner-up Jacksonville by three. This week North Florida, who actually trailed early on the back nine, received top-15 play from three players with Phillip Knowles leading the way. The sophomore started the day sharing the individual lead before finishing in a tie for second place by combining rounds of 73-67-71 to post 5-under. During Sunday's final round Knowles overcame three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 4-6 to turn in a 1-under 71 thanks to four birdies throughout the reminder of the round. The final two birdies for Knowles came on the 17th and 18th holes. Also finishing in the top-15 for North Florida were Andrew Alligood (T7; E) and Travis Trace (T14; +3). Medalist honors at the John Hayt Collegiate went to Army senior Peter Kim. Teeing of on No. 10, Kim who started the day as part of a four-way tie for the lead, fired a closing 2-under 70 to reach the winning number of 6-under. Kim, the 2014 Patriot League Most Outstanding Golfer, was 4-under for the tournament with four holes remaining but he surged late with birdies on the 6th and 8th holes. Behind Kim came Knowles and David Wicks (Jacksonville) at 5-under in the runner-up slot, Hidetoshi Yoshihara (UCLA) was fourth at 4-under while Amarin Kraivixien (Campbell) was fifth at 2-under. The team standings were rounded up by UCF (+11) and Campbell (+11) sharing third and Liberty (+14) in fifth.