USC golf’s Matt NeSmith claims SEC individual title

South Carolina junior Matt NeSmith fired a final-round 3-under 67 on Sunday to become the second golfer in program history to win medalist honors at the SEC Championship.

NeSmith, who joins Eric Ecker (1998) as the only USC golfers to win an SEC title, wrapped up the weekend at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course with a 54-hole total of 14-under 196, which is a school SEC Championship record. His nearest competitor, Auburn’s Ben Schlottman, finished six shots back with a total of 202 (-8).

“This win means a lot to me,” NeSmith said. “I played really, really well all week. The one bogey is proof of that. I never really got in any bad spots and made a lot of putts. It was just a really fun weekend.”

As a team, the Gamecocks came up short of winning their first SEC title, finishing tied for second with Vanderbilt at 10-under 830, the lowest total in program history at the SEC Championship. Carolina shot a even-par 280 on Sunday to finish three shots back of champion LSU.

“The team put us in contention, and we were right there,” USC coach Bill McDonald said. “We had a chance on the back nine. We got a little bit of wind today, which made the golf course play a little harder. I think that was in our favor. We just didn’t quite get it done.”

A native of North Augusta, NeSmith played the front side bogey free as he made the turn at 3-under 32. He carded his only birdie on the back nine on the par-4 11th to get to 4-under but dropped back to 3-under with his only bogey of the weekend on the par-4 14th. He tallied par on his final four holes to clinch the title.

“That’s some of the best golf I’ve ever seen,” McDonald said of NeSmith. “He made one bogey in three rounds, and I had the pleasure of being able to walk and watch all of it.”

The Gamecocks now will wait for NCAA regional pairings to be announced on May 5. Regionals will be contested at six sites May 14-16.

USC women earn second place at SEC Championships At Hoover, Ala., entering the final round of the 2015 SEC Championships nine shots behind leader No. 13 Texas A&M, the No. 2 Gamecocks pulled within two strokes on the back nine but finished second after shooting a 1-under 284 in the final round at the Greystone Golf and Country Club. USC finished at 1-under 863 for the weekend.

Senior Justine Dreher capped her career at the SEC Championships with her fourth top-15 finish. Dreher was 2-under 70 on the day and finished at 4-under 212.

South Carolina now awaits NCAA regional selections. The selection show will be broadcast on the Golf Channel on April 27 at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published April 19, 2015 at 9:10 PM with the headline "USC golf’s Matt NeSmith claims SEC individual title."