DADE CITY, Fla. -The 16th-ranked Georgia Southwestern men's golf team captured ninth out of the 20 teams in the 2015 NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional Championship tournament at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club. Of the 20 teams competing, 18 were in the top 26 in all of DII.

The Hurricanes finished second of all the Peach Belt Teams competing, only 12 strokes behind USC Aiken who finished third. GSW also finished second of all the DII schools from the state of Georgia by only one stroke. West Georgia moved up four spots to capture the title of best DII golf school in the state of Georgia.

The top-ranked program in Division II, Nova Southeastern, won the team title by 10 strokes with a 19-under 845 for 54-holes. Nova edged out Lynn for the win who lead the tournament for the first two-rounds. The top seven teams in the regional qualified for nationals. GSW was only eight strokes out of a birth in the NCAA National Championships.

Hayes Dupree lead GSW in the 54-hole three-day tournament posting a 69, 74 and 75 to finish with a 218. Dupree eagled twice during the tournament and finish tied for 18th.

Nicholas Ward posted his lowest score of the tournament after shooting three birdies in a row on holes 13, 14 and 15 then shot two more later in the round. Ward started the tournament with a 77 in Round 1, improved in Round 2 with a 73 and finished with a 68 in Round 3 to place tied for 18th, 26 spots up from yesterday.

Chris Low finished tied for 39th with a 224 overall score after shooting a 77, 73 and 74. Low moved up five spots from the previous round.

The Hurricanes played tremendous golf over the opening nine holes of Wednesday's final round, draining seven birdies. GSW posted 30 birdies overall during the 54-hole 72-par 7098 yard course.

"It's not how we imagined our year ending but it was a great year for us and I am very proud of all the guys on the team and we will be back next year," commented head coach Darcy Donaldson. "I appreciate all the support we have received this year and look forward to the success to come next year."

For live stats of the NCAA DII Regional Championships click here.

For individual stats click here.

For more updates on the GSW golf team follow them on Twitter at @GSW_Golf.

2015 NCAA DII SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGIONALS- TEAM SCORES

GSW SCORES