#7 Dalton State Golfers Win 2021 SSAC Championship

Seventh ranked Dalton State took a 10-stroke lead into the final round and gradually pulled away all afternoon cruising to a 36-stroke victory and their 6^th straight SSAC Championship at RTJ at Cambrian Ridge in Greenville, Ala. on Wednesday.
 
DS shot even-par 864 for the tournament with (RV) William Carey (Miss.) finishing as the runner up at 36-over-par 900.

#21 Faulkner (Ala.) closed the final gap on the Crusaders for 2^nd but settled for 3^rd at 907 (+43).
 
Mobile (Ala.) jumped up one spot to 4^th at 940 (+76). Rounding out the top-5 was Blue Mountain (Miss.) at 943 (+79).
 
RECAP
Ben Rebne goes back-to-back in winning individual medalist honors. Rebne won the 2019 playing of the event and looked poised to do the same last season until the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 edition. He picked up where he left off with a 5-under-par 211, winning by 5 strokes.
 
DS almost made it a clean sweep of the top 4 as Steve Kibare and Matthew Cleary finished 2^nd and 3^rd and Trevor Bassett in 5^th. Kibare traversed the course in even-par 216, while Cleary lit up the back 9 on Wednesday going 5-under and posting a 2-over 218 overall.
 
Bassett found red figures late in the round on Wednesday carding a solid 76 (+4) to finish at 5-over-par. The final Roadrunner in the lineup, Joshua Stern, finished in the top-15 with a 13^th place finish at 14-over 230.
 
Rebne, Kibare, Cleary, and Bassett all made the All-Tournament team. The SSAC awards will be announced on Thursday.
 
QUOTES FROM COACH
Comments From Coach Ben Rickett:
"I could not be more proud of this group. It has been a tough year and each of these players has dealt with their share of adversity."
 
"Today's round was nothing shy of impressive. It was tough with the winds blowing 15+ mph all day and getting off to a slow start, but they responded consistently throughout the day."
 
"One of the goals every year is to win the conference and be as prepared as we can be. The guys were extremely disciplined in difficult conditions today and showed that they can be one of the best teams in the country!"
 
"Could not be more proud of all their efforts today! Conference champions!!!"
 
UP NEXT
#7-ranked Dalton State will next compete in the NAIA Tournament at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. on May 18-21.