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Grit and resilience were on full display for the Longwood men’s golf team Wednesday, in the final round of match play for the Big South Championship.

Down early, Longwood roared back and claimed the program’s first ever conference title when Daniel George sank a birdie putt on the 18th and final hole. His putt clinched a 3-2 win for the Lancers over Charleston Southern, last season’s league champion.

“I never wavered believing that we could do it,” said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. “I told the guys back in the fall that if we kept doing what we needed to do, we could play in May. Even when it didn’t look great early in the afternoon, I never doubted us.”

25th tournament win for Lancers

Longwood won a tournament for the 25th time under Fillman, but this one was one of the sweetest. The Lancers had been in contention to win in multiple tournaments in the spring, but the win proved to be elusive. Until today.

“Obviously, if we are only going to win one, this is the one we wanted to win,” Fillman said. “Every one of those situations made us stronger. None of them went the way we wanted them to go. I think it helped us today. I always wanted us to be the toughest people out there. Justin and Dan are two of the toughest people I know. Whenever we needed them, they came through. It takes a lot of guts. You have to be tough to do it, and they both were.”

George gutted his way to the clinching point by winning four of the final six holes, and Nick Rakes and Justin LaRue also won their matches to erase a 2-0 deficit after CSU claimed the first two points.

George, a senior, was down three holes with six to play, but he never wavered. He ripped off back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 to cut his deficit to one, and then he tied his counterpart, Griffin Tarver, on the 17^th hole to set up the dramatic finish. On the 18^th, his teammates erupted in joy as his birdie putt went home to claim the title.

“Having my teammates around me on the green, it couldn’t have been a better situation,” George said. “It was a lot of fun, coming down the stretch. It was definitely stressful, but I had to trust my ability and the work that I had put in to be able to do the thing. And I did it.

“There was a lot of relief when that putt went in. I haven’t played the best in my college career, and I’ve had more downs than ups. But it was great to see it go in and have the payoff of a lot of hard work.”

George provided the clinching point, but Nick Rakes and Justin LaRue set the table.

LaRue helps team win Big South Championship

LaRue, who had won his own dramatic match in the morning to send Longwood to the final round, continued his strong play on the day by taking down Ben Carroll, CSU’s top scorer.

This time, LaRue, a sophomore, left nothing to chance in his own round. He led almost wire-to-wire in a commanding performance. He took the lead on the second hole and never looked back before winning 4 & 3 to cut the CSU lead to 2-1.

Rakes also battled and took down his counterpart, Layne Lambert, to tie the match 2-2. After a slow start, Rakes took the lead for good on the seventh hole.

Once he got it, he refused to give it back, and he clinched his round 2 & 1 on the 17^th hole.

“Willi Hoover, who was our sub over the last few rounds, kept me up to date on what was going on,” Fillman said. “It didn’t look great for us early on, so I made the decision to go and be exclusively with Dan over the last seven holes. I left Justin and Nick to take care of their business, and they did. I felt like that was the best chance for us to get the third point we needed.”

Lancers heading to NCAA Regional

His decision paid off, and the Lancers will now head to their first NCAA Regional since 2007, the last time the team qualified at the NCAA Division I level.

“The guys were ready,” Fillman said about the work his team put in throughout the year that led to this moment. “The way we prepare to play, back home, I know how hard we work and how hard we practice. The guys back home do the same thing. The belief and trust, I never stop believing and I never stop trusting these guys.”

The Lancers will find out which of the six regionals they are headed to on May 3 during the NCAA Selection Show. The regionals run from May 15-17.