CONOVER, N.C. - The travelling party from 19th-ranked Georgia Southwestern to the NCAA National Golf Championships in Louisville, Ky. next week might be a little smaller than hoped, but the Hurricanes will be represented in the finals for the first time in school history after J.P. Griffin fired a 1-under 71 on Wednesday morning at the South/Southeast Regional to finish the three-day event tied for second with a 5-under 211.

The top five teams and the top two players not on a qualifying team advance to the finals May 15-19 at The Cardinal Club as part of the 2012 Division II Spring Championships Festival.

Griffin finished a stroke behind Matt Atkins of USC Aiken for the individual title.

Although they did not qualify as a team, GSW played outstanding golf on Day 3 at Rock Barn Golf & Spa. Southwestern turned in the second-lowest round of the tourney with a 3-under 285 and climbed nine spots in the standings to finish in 8th place.

The Hurricanes started the day 16 strokes out of fifth place and a team birth in the national finals. After posting such a solid score in the morning, there was no packing up and shoving off for Americus. The Hurricanes had to grab a bite to eat, kill an hour or two and head back to the club to watch the afternoon scores trickle in. By days end, GSW was only five strokes out of the coveted fifth slot.

No. 16 Georgia College won the regional with a 5-over 869. Top-ranked Barry was second (870) and No. 2 Nova Southeastern (872) finished third.

GSW was led by Craig Gibson on Wednesday. The senior "left it all on the course," as they say, firing a tournament-low round of 5-under 67. After opening with a bogey, Gibson birdied four-consecutive holes. On the back nine he sandwiched a bogey between two birdies before dropping another birdie on 18. Gibson climbed 55 spots in the standings over the final round to finish the 108-player event tied for 28th.

Christopher Hall ended his collegiate career with an even-par 72. His three-round 225 was good for 54th place.

Travis Oestmann carded a 75 to record the fourth team score on Day 3. His tournament ended with a birdie on 18 as well. He posted a 238 overall.  

Nate Gahman played even-par golf over the opening nine holes before finishing the day with a 76. His 229 score tied for 79th place.

The Hurricanes finished ahead of seven Top 25 teams, including No. 5 Lynn and No. 7 West Florida.

GSW was one of 80 teams participating in regional play of the NCAA Tournament.

2012 SOUTH/SOUTHEAST NCAA REGIONAL - TEAM SCORES

GSW SCORES