MOBILE, Ala. – The No. 27 Valdosta State men's golf team struggled on the final round of the 2021 Gulf South Conference Men's Golf Championship Monday at Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course firing a final round 300 for an 874 score for 54-holes to finish fourth of ten teams.  VSU senior Wesley Hanson earned the GSC Spring Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete Award for the second-straight season.
 
Top-ranked West Florida won the championship with a blistering 24-under par for an 840 score on rounds of 281, 274 and 285 on the par 72, 7,212-yard course.  No. 8 Lee finished second at 13-under with an 851 score, while Christian Brothers fired a final round 292 to finish third with an 868 score.  The 300 on Monday really hurt the Blazers as VSU entered the final round 2-under for the championship with a two-stroke lead on CBU. 
 
Montevallo rounded out the top five with an 880 score, followed by Delta State at 887.  Mississippi College moved up two spots to seventh with a final round 296 for an 890 score, while Shorter also moved up two spots to eighth with a 292 final round for an 897.  West Georgia finished ninth at 903, while Union was tenth at 914. 
 
Individually the championship finished with Elias Haavisto winning the conference title with a 13-under 203 score (67-65-71) over teammate Alexandro Restrepo (11-under, 205), while Lee's Evan Spence finished third at 8-under 208 and teammate Oliver Lewis-Perkins was fourth at 6-under 210.  Delta State's Landon Carner and Christian Brother's Harry Brown tied for fifth at 5-under 211, while Hanson tied for seventh at 1-under 215 on rounds of 70, 71 and 74. 
 
Hanson, a native of Macon, Ga., earned GSC Spring Men's Golf Champion Scholar-Athlete honors last season, GSC All-Academic honors and became the first Academic All-America® as selected by CoSIDA in the history of the program last season as he was a third team selection.  He has a 4.0 grade-point average in management and a minor in accounting.
 
This season, Hanson has played in seven tournaments for 21 rounds with a 73.4 stroke average.  His best finish was this week as he finished tied for seventh at the GSC championship.  Hanson fired 19 rounds in the 70s and a career-best 66 at the Saint Leo Invitational in the second round.  A total of 19 of his rounds this season have been used in the team score.  For his career, he has played in 22 tournaments for 73 rounds for a 75.3 stroke average.  He has fired 64 rounds in the 70s and the one 66. 
 
Following Hanson in the GSC Championship was sophomore Gage Smith who finished tied for 17^th with a 220 score on rounds of 74, 68 and 78.  Sophomore Chase Weathers finished 23^rd with a 223 score on rounds of 76, 70 and 77.  Senior AJ Ouimet and freshman Ryan Pollman tied for 24^th each with a 224 score.  Ouimet carded rounds of 70, 76 and 78, while Pollman fired a 78, 75 and 71.
 
The Blazers now will await to see if they earn a berth in the NCAA South/Southeast Super Regional, scheduled for May 6-8 at Streamsong Golf Course in Bowling Green, Fla.  VSU entered the GSC Championship seventh in the latest NCAA South Region rankings, released last Friday by the NCAA.
 
The NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship field is scheduled to be unveiled April 23 on NCAA.com.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for more information.  The top eight teams in the South Region rankings announced April 23 will be invited to the regional.