TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — Junior All-American John Pak earned his second straight individual championship this weekend with an 11-under (70-66-69) performance at the Seminole Intercollegiate held at Golden Eagle Country Club.
Pak is only the second FSU two-time champion of the tournament, joining Nolan Henke who won in 1985 and 1987. This is Pak’s seventh tournament title, sitting one shy of Henke’s program record eight.
“I don’t think about it a whole lot, but it’s there in the back of my head,” Pak said of trying to match Henke’s career wins record. “It would be nice to surpass someone as good as Nolan Henke. It’s definitely been a goal.”
There are only a handful of golfers around the country that can match the repertoire of the All-American Pak. Pak’s quiet start by his standards was gladly interrupted by three birdies over a five-hole stretch and an impressive eagle on 18 that provided him a five-stroke lead after two rounds on Saturday.
He followed with a 3-under on the final day that featured three straight birdies on holes 9-11 to hold sole possession of the individual leaderboard throughout the final round.
“My short game was on point this week,” Pak added. “I didn’t hit the ball as well as I liked and with that cold weather yesterday, it was hard getting things going. That short game saved me on some holes in the first 18 and it really helped.”
The Ben Hogan Award Watch List recipient was not the only Seminole who impressed in front of the home crowd.
Redshirt freshman Cole Anderson had his most complete tournament of his young career. He finished tied for ninth place with a 1-over (72-70-75) for the three-round event. He carded a 2-under through the first two rounds and closed the tournament with a round of 3-over.
This marks Anderson’s first top ten finish of his career and his highest finish as a Seminole; his previous best was a tie for 24th at the OFCC/Fighting Illlini Invitational during the fall portion of the season.
Pak and Anderson led the field with 3.83 and 3.90 scoring averages respectively on the course’s Par 4 holes. Senior Jamie Li provided another consistent card for the Seminoles. He turned in a tournament score of 7-over and finished tied for 30th.
The classmates of Calvin Sierota and Alberto Martinez rebounded from second round struggles to add strong finishes. Martinez scored a 2-over in the final round, and Sierota followed with a 4-over. The ability to rebound from a tough round is an encouraging sign that will translate into future success as the sophomore duo moves through the spring season.
Freshman Fletcher Wunderlich competed as an individual and turned in a 10-over three-round score.
Florida State held their own against a strong field, despite less than desirable weather conditions through the first two rounds. The year’s field included seven teams ranked in the Top 50, and all seven finished in the top seven spots on the leaderboard. The Seminoles (+10) finished tied for fourth, as first place Washington (-9) controlled the team leaderboard throughout most of the tournament. The rest of the top five included East Tennessee State (-2), Liberty (+9), and James Madison (+10).
Florida State will travel to the Cabo Collegiate on March 1-3 held at the Cabo del Sol, Ocean Course in Los Cabos, Mexico. The tournament can be followed on GolfStat.com and all recaps of the rounds can be found on Seminoles.com.
