Lovins, Mahaffey lead Aggies to Top 10 finish at NCAA II Golf Championships

Daniels, W.Va. (May 19) - Travis Lovins and Owen Mahaffey each posted individual Top 10 finishes and the Cameron men's golf team notched its fifth Top 10 team finish at the NCAA Division II national championships since 1990 Friday at The Resort at Glade Springs. Coach Jerry Hrnciar's Aggies capped a stellar season by finishing tied for seventh at the national tournament, marking Cameron's highest finish since a third-place showing at the NCAA tournament in 1996.

Tournament conditions were hampered by cold temperatures and rain throughout the week, limiting each of the 105 competitors in the tournament field.

Mahaffey birdied three straight holes on the back nine, as Cameron began its round on hole No. 10 for the third time in four rounds on the par-70 Cobb Course layout at Glade Springs. But a quadruple-bogey 9 on No. 18 moved the Wichita Falls junior to four-over through nine holes of play. Mahaffey regrouped, however, and played the front nine at even par with one birdie and one bogey to finish with a 74. The effort moved Mahaffey into ninth individually with a four-round total of 290 (+10).

Lovins played the back nine at three-over and birdied the par-4 No. 1 to get to two-over on Friday. But the Canadian, Texas, senior suffered three straight bogeys late in the round to settle for a 75, finishing one stroke behind Mahaffey in 10th individually with a 291 total.

Junior Matt Trammell carded the low round of the day for the Aggies. After opening his round with five straight pars, Trammell birdied the par-4 15th and recorded another birdie at No. 1 to get to one-under. Another birdie at the par-4 eighth hole gave the Alliance, Neb., native a one-over round of 71, putting Trammell in a tie for 40th individually.

Cane Shumaker and Peter Svajlen each posted their best rounds of the tournament on Friday. Shumaker, a sophomore from Miami, Okla., equalled his Thursday round of 78, while Svajlen, a freshman from Bratislava, Slovakia, birdied two of his final four holes to finish with a four-over 74.

Cameron's other Top 10 finishes at the Division II national tournament were in 2001 (9th), 1994 (8th) and 1990 (5th). The Aggies have made eight trips to the national tournament as an NCAA member institution. Cameron also made eight appearances at the NAIA national golf championships, winning a national title in 1983.

South Carolina-Aiken successfully defended its NCAA Division II crown for the second straight year, posting a final-round team score of 280 (E) to finish at plus-28 and win the title by 12 strokes over Columbus State. Cal State-Bakersfield was third (+49), followed by Lynn University (+58), Cal State-Stanislaus (+59) and Florida Southern (+60). Cameron tied Cal State-San Bernardino for seventh with a four-round total of 1,189 (+69).

In the individual medalist race, Jamie Amoretti of St. Mary's (Texas) University captured the individual crown by one stroke over defending individual champion Dane Burkhart of USC-Aiken. Amoretti shot a final-round 71 to finish even-par for the tournament, topping Burkhart by one stroke. Floriday Southern's Greg Koch was third at two-over, followed by USC-Aiken's Roberto Diaz (+4), and Christian Ries (+5) of Columbus State.

The 2006 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships were hosted by Concord (W.Va.) University and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.