Dominating Performance Adam Ball leads VCU to second A-10 title and a return trip to NCAA Regional play


College BY PATRICK K. KANE (L to R) Assistant Coach John Phillips, Enej Sarkanj, Jamie Clare, Adam Ball, Osama Khan, Coach Matt Ball, Steffen Harm


total of 10-under par to win the Atlantic-10 Confer- ence Championship at Harmony Hills in Florida. VCU shot rounds of 286-286-282 to cruise to a 13 shot victory over crosstown rival Richmond. The victory, VCU’s second consecutive A-10 title, earns the Rams the automatic conference bid to the NCAA tournament. “It’s always a thrill to win your conference champi- onship,” said VCU head coach Matt Ball, who was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the second con- secutive year. “This one means even more to most of the fans as it is a championship, not just a tournament win.” VCU entered the final round with a slim three shot lead over Davidson but ran away from the field with their final round 282, 6-under par effort. Counting scores in the final round included Adam Ball(68), Enej Sarkanj(70), Osama Kahn(71) and Steffen Harm(73). All five VCU players finished inside the top 30 individually. “It was a total team effort that without any one of the five we could not prevail,” said Ball about his team, that includes no seniors. “I’m so extremely proud under that scenario that freshman Osama Khan played


I


t’s back to the dance for Virginia Commonwealth University as the Rams shot an impressive team


his best round of the year and Enej Sarkanj shoots 2 under in the final round.” As he did all year, junior Adam Ball led the way.


The Richmond native shot rounds of 66-68-68— 202, 14-under par, to win the individual title by a whopping 7 strokes over runner-up Matthew Lowe of the University of Richmond, who started slow with a 76 but shot 66-67 on the weekend. Ball’s per- formance included just one bogey and one double- bogey, combined with 17 birdies, in 54-holes. “I’ve been close all semester,” said Ball as he


prepared to board the flight back to Richmond. “It just really all came together. My ball-striking was bet-


VCU TOPS RICHMOND


Wins Black and Blue Cup at Kinloch GC


Virginia Commonwealth University topped the University of Richmond 6-2 to win the annual Black & Blue Cup played at Kinloch GC. It was the third consecutive win in the yearly event that started in 2012 when Rich- mond won the inaugural Cup. While the event pits individual


players against each other in a match play format scores were kept and


ter than ever and I really never put myself in bad position except for the one double I made on a par-three.” Was it the best he ever hit it for a 54-hole stretch? “I’d say so,” said Ball. “I had so many short looks at birdies and felt like I struck the ball perfectly all three days.” For coach Ball, it was when his son did it that counted. “I’ve seen Adam play that kind of golf, but this is the first time in a college tournament,” said Coach Ball. “I’m really excited by his ability to negate the over par holes with better decisions and a ter- rific short game while he drove it so well and hit so many irons close he had to throw in a bunch of birdies.”


Ball came into the week riding a hot-streak. He


picked up his second colle- giate title in late March at the


Seahawk Intercollegiate where he finished tied with University of Georgia star Lee McCoy, the number three ranked collegiate player in the country. He finished outside the top-five in only one tournament in the spring and had been named A-10 Player of the Week three times. Like most team leaders, Adam Ball downplayed his performance and celebrated what the entire team was able to accomplish. “I’m just so excited for everyone on the team,” said Ball. “It’s a great feeling for all of us.”


Tournament Notes:


Freshman Errol Clarke, who topped John David Sanderson 5 & 4, shot the low round of the day with a four-under par total. Adam Ball and Jamie Clare, who won their matches, both shot three-under par, although Ball only played 14 holes after getting revenge on defending A-10 individ- ual champion Danny Pizetoski, who topped Ball last year in this tourna- ment, with a 5 and 4 victory. Other winners for VCU included Enej Sarkani, Steffen Harm and Hanish Nagrani. Richmond’s only two winners were Austin Romeo and Mark Reilly.


• Matt Ball was named Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.


• Adam Ball, Steffen Harm and Jamie Clare were all named All-At- lantic-10.


• Midlothian resident Kyle Hart, a freshman at George Mason, shot 80- 75-73 to finish tied for 41st. • St. Joseph’s senior Connor Hill, from Richmond, playing in his final collegiate event, shot 79-75-76 to finish 45th. • Richmond senior Danny Pizetoski, the defending A-10 individual cham- pion, closed out his collegiate career with a tie for 21st finish.


Virginia Golf Report • Spring 2015 • virginiagolfreport.com 17


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