The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Mid-American Conference Championship – Day Three
Baylis Wins MAC Championship Individual Title, Zips Finish Fifth
April 30 | Men's Golf
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Results PDF rd1 | rd2 | rd3 | rd4 Final
SYLVANIA, Ohio – Sophomore George Baylis (Ascot, England) became the first Akron men's golfer in program history to win medalist honors at the Mid-American Conference Championship. Baylis carded a 4-under par 67 final round score en route to a 1-under par 283 stroke tournament win at the par 71, 6,712-yard Highland Meadows Golf Club on Saturday.
At the conclusion of the MAC Championship, the league announced the yearly awards as Baylis was honored with First-Team All-MAC accolades and MAC All-Tournament Team honors.
"I'm excited for George becoming our first MAC Champion," Zips' head coach David Trainor said. "He played great this week, especially down the stretch."
Baylis came from behind to capture the MAC individual championship, registering a 7-under par total during the final two rounds. After an opening round 76 (+5) 22nd place finish, Baylis began to recover and climb the leaderboard. During the second round, he shaved four strokes from his total, and by the end of the first day (36 holes), he ranked just outside the Top 10 with an 11th place 148 (+6) total.
On the second day of competition, Baylis used 13 pars, four birdies and a bogey for a 3-under 68 score. He advanced seven spots on the leaderboard, moving into the Top 5 and tied at fourth overall with a 216 (+3) 54-hole total.
During the final round, Baylis collected six pars and three birdies for a 3-under 31 front-9 score. He started the back-9 with a pair of pars, but fell to 2-under after a bogey on the 402-yard, par-4 12th hole. Baylis responded with four-straight par efforts before ending the round with two-consecutive birdies. The back-to-back birdies placed him at the top of the leaderboard at 4-under, which proved to be enough to win the tournament.
The Zips finished fifth overall with a 1,184 (+48) 72-hole total score as junior Yann Pfeiffer (Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, France), freshman Elliott Grayson (Shelby, N.C.), and senior Ryan Harris (Carlisle, Mass.) joined Baylis in the Top 25.
"I'm Proud of our team," Trainor said. "We didn't have our best stuff, but fought hard this week."
Pfeiffer finished the four-round event 15th overall with a 298 (+14) tournament total. He entered the standings at 14th overall after a 75 (+4) opening round and fired a second 75 (+4) to finish 15th overall on the first day. He maintained the 15th position over the final two rounds with scores of 73 (+2) and 75 (+4), respectively.
Grayson finished 20th overall with a 300 (+16) 72-hole performance. In his MAC Championship debut, Grayson opened with a pair of 76 (+5) scores for 22nd overall. In round three, he carded a 1-over 72 and finished with a 76 (+5) final round to appear in the Top 20.
Harris completed his final MAC Championship event 23rd overall with a 303 (+19) tournament total. The 2014 first team selection recorded scores of 75 (+4), 78 (+7), 76 (+5), and 74 (+3).
Junior J.B. Williams (Danville, Ky.) rounded out the Zips' scoring with a 44th-best 321 (+37) score.
Kent State held on to win the team title with a 1,152 (+16) stroke total while Eastern Michigan earned runner-up with 1,172 (+36) total.
The MAC Championship concludes the Zips 2015-16 season.
Team Scores: 1 Kent State 288, 291, 285, 288 - 1152 (+16), 2 Eastern Michigan 288, 295, 296, 293 - 1172 (+36), 3 Miami (OH) 303, 294, 291, 288 - 1176 (+40), 4 Northern Illinois 302, 291, 287, 297 - 1177 (+41), 5 Akron 302, 301, 289, 292 - 1184 (+48), 6 Toledo 296, 304, 298, 297 - 1195 (+59), 7 Ball State 300, 310, 295, 293 - 1198 (+62), 8 Bowling Green State 303, 300, 295, 305 - 1203 (+67), 9 Ohio 318, 303, 300, 307 - 1228 (+92)
Individual Scores: 1 George Baylis, Akron, 76, 72, 68, 67 - 283 (-1); T2 Ian Holt, Kent State, 73, 72, 70, 72 - 287 (+3); T2 Joo-Young Lee, Northern Illinois, 72, 67, 73, 75 - 287 (+3); T2 Kyle Rodes, Eastern Michigan, 70, 77, 70, 70 - 287 (+3); T5 Chase Johnson, Kent State, 75, 72, 70, 71 - 288 (+4); T5 Brian Ohr, Miami (OH), 74, 68, 74, 72 - 288 (+4)
MAC All-Tournament Team
George Baylis, Akron
Kyle Rodes, Eastern Michigan
Joo-Young Lee, Northern Illinois
Ian Holt, Kent State
Brian Ohr, Miami (Ohio)
Chase Johnson, Kent State
MAC Team Champions
Kent State - 1152, +16
MAC Individual Champion
George Baylis, Akron – 283, -1
All-MAC Season Awards
Player of the Year
Chase Johnson, Kent State
Freshman of the Year
Gisli Sveinbergsson, Kent State
Coach of the Year
Herb Page, Kent State
Brett White, Eastern Michigan
All-MAC First-Team
George Baylis, Akron
Chase Johnson, Kent State
Patrick Flavin, Miami
Ian Holt, Kent State
Otto Black, Toledo
Joo-Young Lee, Northern Illinois
All-MAC Second-Team
Gisli Sveinbergsson, Kent State
Peyton White, Ohio
Johnny Watts, Ball State
Brett White, Eastern Michigan
Brett Rinker, Bowling Green
Players Mentioned
