UTC senior Liam Johnston watches a chip during the Carpet Capital Collegiate on Sunday at The Farm Golf Club. Johnston tied for 10th.ROCKY FACE, Ga. - Bill McDonald has a special designation for legendary Dalton Golf and Country Club head profession Lowell Fritz in his cell phone contacts his.
It's just, "Old Pro."
The two go way back together, so far that McDonald had Fritz teaching him how to play golf around 1970. There's a Dalton High School team photo including McDonald from about 1984 that hangs in the Dalton Golf and Country Club lockerroom.
"Lowell taught me to play golf," said McDonald, a refrain for many who in the Dalton area who picked up the game in the last 48 years.
McDonald's ties remain deep to his childhood home even though he's in his eighth season as head coach at South Carolina. He still goes to the same dentist he did 20 years ago and has an appointment there today.
McDonald almost cried on Sunday after being handed the Lowell Fritz trophy after the Gamecocks won the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm Golf Club for the first time since the tournament began in 1989.
"It goes all the way back to that I was friends with Bob Shaw's son and we'd mess around out here before it was a course," McDonald said. "I played a ton of golf here my last couple years as an amateur and as a pro.
"Since I got into coaching it's been nice to come back and be part of what I think is one of the best tournaments in the country."
South Carolina shot a 12-under-par 276 on Saturday to finish the tournament at 16 under which clipped host Georgia Tech by one. Auburn and Kennesaw state tied for third at 12 under. Alabama took fifth, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga placed 10th and Tennessee finished 11th.
"There's a lot of things that make this special," McDonald said. "We lost Jim Morris, my dad [Raiford] isn't doing well -- it's weird not seeing him and and his bucket hat. And about five years ago I was diagnosed with Leukemia."
No wonder he almost cried amid all the smiles and back-slaps and congratulation to McDonald and his players including Will Starke who tied for fourth individually.
"This is what we play for," Starke said. "We had a talk about how we were finishing the back nine and we all bought into staying patient and finishing off our rounds."
Georgia Tech senior Ollie Schniederjans, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, won medalist honors at 12 under. He beat Alabama sophomore Robby Shelton -- ranked No. 2 in the world -- by two strokes.
Schniederjans -- who turned down an opportunity to play for the USA World Amateur Team Championship squad in part so he could defend the title he shared last year -- shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday. He made three straight bogeys in the middle of his round, but surrounded them with two birdies on the front plus three birdies and an eagle on the back nine.
"I had a lot of adrenaline all day," he said. "Last year I doubled the last hole, and this year I birdied it. It's incredible to win this year and know that I handled it better."
The Mocs were much improved form a year ago as well, especially for the first two days. Last year the Mocs placed 14th and shot an 899. They moved up four spots and shot an 866 this year. They played the course at 5 over par on Sunday after being 3 under through 36 holes.
Senior Liam Johnston tied for 10th including a 2-under 70 on Sunday which featured him getting up-and-down on the final three holes. Redshirt freshman Andrew Weathers, who played at McCallie, tied for 21st at 1 under. Sophomore Ewan Scott shot 3 over, sophomore Wes Gosselin shot 13 over and sophomore Zac Stolz shot 15 over.
"When you have two under par, you have two other others at the opposite end of the spectrum," UTC coach Mark Guhne said. "We must have four scores every round."
Decisions will be made quickly. The Mocs leave Wednesday for their next tournament.
"I was extremely pleased with Andrew, to shoot 1 under in his first college tournament, at The Farm, against this field," Guhne said. "It's a heck of a start for a college career.
"Ewan was solid and Liam did well. I have to figure out how to get them some help."
McDonald, the Gamecocks and Schniederjans didn't need much assistance on Sunday -- except to carry trophies.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.