KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Clayton State men's golf put talent and opportunity together in their first tournament of 2017 as they delivered an impressive second place finish at the highly competitive Third Annual Newberry Invitational on Tuesday, February 21. Over the course of 54 holes they shot a 293-290-305-888 and bested a pair of nationally ranked programs.

After seeing the remainder of the second round postponed due to darkness on Day 1, the Lakers were on their game on the final day of competition. Junior Andres Caballero (Mexico City, Mexico) continued his blistering start as he shot a 67-73-74-214 for the tournament to take home a third place finish.

He would be joined by senior Keith Egan (Newbridge, Ireland) who tied for 12th out of the 81-person field with a 79-75-70-224 while redshirt-sophomore Jack Clark (Singleton, Australia) came in tied for 33rd. He would shoot a 78-68-84-230 for that standing and freshman Nick Woof (Leighton Buzzard, England) finished tied for 38th with marks of 70-83-78-231. Freshman Seong Lee (Leesburg, Va.) rounded things out with rounds of 78-74-83-235 to tie for 47th.

No. 17 Newberry claimed the tournament with a 54-hole total of 293-288-292-873 but the Lakers would hold the edge over the other two nationally ranked foes in the field. They finished ahead of No. 6 Missouri-St. Louis (Fifth, 901) and No. 13 USC Aiken (Fourth, 899) as well as fellow PBC members Georgia Southwestern (Sixth, 911) and Montevallo (Ninth, 918).

"I'm extremely proud of how my team played this week," said head coach Hank Kim. "I've known from the beginning of the Fall that we were loaded with talent. It was really nice to see them come together as a team and perform well. I am especially proud of Andres who finished third individually. He's an amazing player and a great person as well. It's an honor to have him on my team."

The tournament was played at the Ocean Course of the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, one of the toughest courses in the country. It has been the home of the 2007 Senior PGA Championship, the 2012 PGA Championship and 1991 Ryder Cup and was named the toughest course in America by Golf Digest in 2010. It will also play host to the 2021 PGA Championship. Most recently Golf Digest has rated the course the No. 4 public golf course in the country and ranked it No. 25 among the 100 Greatest U.S. Golf Courses.

The Lakers are now off until March 6-7 when they head to Greenville, S.C. for the Southern Tide Classic. That tournament will be held at the Green Valley Country Club.