Darton win 2014 District IV golf championship
ALBANY – Darton State College won the 2014 NJCAA District IV Golf Championship at Stonebridge Golf and Country Club in Albany, Tuesday.
It is the second District title the Cavaliers have won since moving to NJCAA D-1 athletics in 2011, and it secured the program’s 13thconsecutive trip to the NJCAA D-1 National Golf Championship.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Darton head golf coach Dale Dover said. “The weather was terrible. A lot of this was about mental toughness.”
Steady rain on Tuesday delayed the final round for four hours, and when the round began at 2 p.m. the wet weather was paired with cold winds. Still, Madison Turner managed to shoot 3-over at 75 to lead the Cavs and finish as tournament runner up to Arthur Leonard of Eastern Florida State.
“He’s just been real steady,” Dover said of Turner, who is the team captain of the Cavaliers. “He’s not going to have a mental let down on you. He’s not going to give up.”
Turner shot 74, 71, 75 to finish one stroke behind Leonard’s 219. Jake O’Bryan finished tied 8th at 224, Taylor Martin tied 13th at 228, and Tae Kim finished tied 17th at 229.
Darton finished with 895 strokes, only three ahead of runners up Wallace State (Ala.). Eastern Florida finished 3rd with 903 strokes, followed by Central Alabama’s 904, Cape Fear’s 911 and Faulkner State’s 919, respectively. These top six programs all earned entries into the national tournament, scheduled for May 11-16 in Burlington, Iowa.
Kim earned All District IV honors and Turner received All Tournament accolades. Dover received his second District IV Coach of the Year award.
“It was real big for me, this being my last dance” said Dover, who plans to retire at the end of the season.