Rule earns individual medalist honors at SunTrust Gator Invitational

The Mercer men’s golf team has entered their spring competition season. After a long fall of preparation and travel their season is finally underway.

The fall season consisted of the Bears having top-five finishes in four of their five tournaments. At the end of the fall season the team was ranked 32nd by Golfstat.com and 39th by Golfweek.com. With lots of preparation and hard work, the team is likely to have a great spring.

The Bears began their season as they traveled to Gainesville, Fla. for the Suntrust Gator Invitational this past weekend. In the three-round tournament, the team pulled out an overall tie for fifth place. In round one, they tied for eighth place, in round two they placed second, and in round three they tied for fifth place.

Led by senior Hans Reimers and junior Trey Rule, the Bears shot an 868 to secure their tie for fifth place.  Rule medaled, finishing fifth overall with a three round score of 206. Reimers finished with a score of 213 and tied for eighth place.

“The Gator Invitational was our first spring tournament, and it was insane how it ended,” said Rule. “I really am blessed and so thankful for my coaches and teammates because they helped mold me into the player I am today.”

With their first contest completed, the Bears are excited to get the season underway. Senior James Beale commented, “This is going to be a big season for us because we finished the fall season ranked better than Mercer Golf has ever been ranked before.” Beale continued, “It is our goal to keep that up and make it to regionals and hopefully even to nationals.”

The Atlantic Sun Conference tournament is April 20-22 and the Bears are hoping to advance to regionals.

“I think we will do great. Our lineup is looking better than ever,” said Beale. “The teams that we are most competitive with are North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast and Kennesaw, because they are the other three best teams in the Atlantic Sun conference. It is a big goal of ours to win conference this year because for the first time, we feel like it is very achievable.”

“I am extremely excited for the rest of spring, we have 4 total guys who have won a tournament, I am confident in our ability to get to Regionals and hopefully Nationals as a team,” said Rule.

The team will compete in four other tournaments in preparation for the conference finals. Beale added, “We are excited to play in every event and we look at each tournament as a chance to get better and make our mark on college golf. Coach Bradley has done great in installing a strong attitude into the team.”

The Bears next contest is March 2  at the USF Invitational hosted by South Florida in Dade City, Fla.