Fisk leads Georgia Southern to meaningful Schenkel title

As Georgia Southern senior Steven Fisk pulled away in the Schenkel individual race on Sunday, he carried his team with him. Fisk closed with 7-under 65 at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga., winning the individual title by six shots while his team won their home event by 13 shots.

The titles – and the scoring – are notable on several levels. For Fisk, this is season title No. 5. He won four consecutive titles (in five fall starts) to start his senior season. Fisk is ranked No. 38 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. With eight career victories, Fisk is now tied with Jodie Mudd as the winningest player in program history.

The Schenkel is Georgia Southern’s home event, and the Eagles’ final-round 20-under 268 ties a the single-round scoring record in the tournament set by Alabama in 2012. The 268 is the lowest final team round on record for the tournament.

The team win is Georgia Southern’s second all-time at the Schenkel Invitational, and the first since 2014.

“To have the tenacity to keep fighting even when things weren't going well the first two days really shows the character of these guys,” head coach Carter Collins said. “They fought really hard to get into the last group today and this is why. You want to have your competitors in front of you so you know what you have to do and the importance of how we finished the first round showed today.”

Behind Fisk, Brett Barron finished third by matching his teammate’s final-round 65. Another Eagle, Benn Carr, was fourth. He had a final-round 69.

As for Fisk, if you recognize the name, it’s because he was the player who had a putt for the first 59 in college golf last fall (he ended up with 60). He has earned his place on the Haskins Award Watch List and Hogan Award Watch List in recent weeks.

Fisk is also a player who has grown in confidence and maturity in his time at Georgia Southern, as he noted earlier this fall in a question-and-answer session with AmateurGolf.com.

“Everybody always told me I’d play better if I could just stay a lot more calm and I didn’t believe them,” Fisk said. “Here I am a few years later saying it’s probably the most important thing. It’s way more important than any shot I’ve hit since I got to school.”

Information from Georgia Southern Athletics used in this report