Belsito and Hawley Tie for First

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The final Sun Conference Championship was held in PGA Village at the Wanamaker golf course in West Palm Beach, FL. JWU men's golf team was coming into the tournament placed 3rd in the conference behind University South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) and Savannah College and Art and Design (SCAD). The Sun Conference is one of the toughest conferences in the nation with several teams ranked in the NAIA rankings.

 This is Johnson & Wales' first year in the Sun Conference and it has proven to be quite a challenge competing with very high caliber teams. After the first round, JWU shot 6 over par as a team behind USCB and SCAD, who were even par. The second round our guys came out with a lot of steam and shot 6 under par. The second round put us even par for the tournament and tied with SCAD.

 Jr. Chris Hawley (Walpole, MA) led the team shooting a 68 and Sr. Greg Belsito (Toronto, Ontario) shot a 70 to help get us to 6 under. Sr. Joonas Hinkkannen (Helsinki, Finland) and Fr. Jordan Meltzer (Boca Raton, FL) both shot 72's, which is par for the 6,986 yard course.

 Coming into the final round, JWU was tied with SCAD and Webber International was only 2 strokes behind. After the final scores were turned in, JWU shot 2 under par for the day, and two under par for the tournament putting JWU ahead of SCAD by three strokes.

 As it turned out that score was enough for the team to win the Sun Conference Championship (2009-2010). As individuals, Hawley and Belsito tied for first for the tournament at 3 under par and Hinkkannen was 5th for the tournament at 1 under par.  The final round of The Sun Conference Men's Golf Tournament was followed by the awards presentation where Head Coach James Palmer was named The Sun Conference Coach of the Year.

 "This win was huge for our team. We have been playing well all year and to finish strong and win when it was much needed is exciting! I was very happy for my guys to perform so well. Just before the tournament I was thinking, it'd be great if Hawley and Belsito win this year, since both Hinkkannen and Leonhardt have won tournaments as well. And what do you know, both Hawley and Belsito win and the the team brings home the trophy as well. I know that my guys are happy and they should feel very proud. Winning this tournament gets us into Nationals. I have full intentions for us to go to Silvas, IL and win!"

Nationals will be held at TPC Deere Run at Silvas, IL, May 18-21.