Beaufort, SC (March 19, 2019) - College athletes, guests, and Dataw Island spectators enjoyed an exciting finish to the annual adidas Intercollegiate Golf Tournament, with a three-way tie for Men’s Individual play. After three rounds on Tom Fazio’s Cotton Dike course, Colin Uecker of Texas Lutheran, Michael Barber of Millikin University, and Casey Leebrick of York College each finished even par, forcing a two-hole shoot-out. Uecker secured the win with a birdie on the first playoff hole on hole #9, sending Barber and Leebrick to play #9 yet again, where Leebrick shot par and secured second place.
The women competed on Arthur Hills’ Morgan River course where we saw some very competitive golf. Kim Siercks of Indiana Tech finished first with a score of +9, followed by Jordan Koller of York College with a +11, and in third, Vicky Raffle, also of Indiana Tech shot +15.
Indiana Tech also showed strength in the team competition, securing first place with an overall score of +71. The ladies of York College finished not far behind at +76, and in third, Mt. St. Joseph posted +134. In Men’s team competition, Oglethorpe College finished in first place at their first appearance at the adidas Intercollegiate, with a team total of +19. The men of Hampden-Sydney College trailed by only three strokes, securing second place at +22. Third place went to North Carolina Wesleyan, who finished at +33.
The adidas Intercollegiate is hosted by Ohio Wesleyan and featured a total of 105 athletes from 17 schools in the men’s division and 43 athletes representing seven schools competed in the women’s division.
Each year, members of Dataw Island look forward to this tournament and hosting the college athletes in their homes. Many students return year after year, with the host families eagerly awaiting their return, much like a homecoming. In fact, when one of “their” students placed second, two members jokingly argued for a piece of the credit: “She stayed at MY house!” “Yeah, well she ate MY brisket!” bantered Cynthia Hooper and Anthony Russo.
“These kids are great,” added Russo. “It’s a lot of fun to have them around and we really enjoy it.”
The Dataw Staff also enjoys this annual event. Dave Britton, Dataw’s Director of Golf, is himself from Ohio and really enjoys hosting the student athletes and their coaches. “We just love that we are able to offer our courses to these student athletes each year,” said Britton. “Many of their home courses are just thawing now, and to be able to get out and play on such fine courses in the condition that Dataw is in is a real treat for them, especially this early in the season.”
Although Britton at least partially credits the course conditions for attracting an impressive field each year, he also said that the camaraderie between the members and the athletes is at least as big of a draw. “It’s really neat to see our members’ excitement about hosting kids, baking for them, offering shuttles on the course – they ‘get it’ that this is a volunteer effort and that their efforts are critical to its success.”
Also this year, Dataw Island will host the Carolina’s Golf Association Senior Four Ball, the WSCGA Women’s Amateur, and the Salute Military Golf Association, and the SCGA Mixed Team Championship.
Dataw Island is a gated golf, tennis and boating lifestyle community located fifteen minutes outside of historic downtown Beaufort. The island features two recently-renovated golf courses by designers Tom Fazio and Arthur Hills, a tennis center, a community center with workout and massage facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, three restaurants and impeccably-maintained croquet lawns. The community has also been ranked the number one best retirement destination in South Carolina by Best Retirement Destinations and is the recipient of the 2017 Bliss Award for “Happiest South Carolina Community.”
