Camden’s Cole Anderson finished tied for 40th among 169 golfers at the NCAA Division I Golf Championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Florida State redshirt sophomore shot an 11-over-par 291 and had the lowest score on his team.
Florida State failed to qualify for the match play competition because the Seminoles finished 21st among 30 teams in the three rounds of stroke play competition and only the top 15 teams advanced. FSU shot a 47-over-par 887.
Anderson was able to play in the individual finals because he was one of the top nine finishers from a team that didn’t qualify for the match play round.
With the tournament complete, Anderson is returning to Maine for a short break and then heading to Pittsburgh. He intends to play in a lot of high-level amateur tournaments around the country this summer and may play in a tournament or two in his home state.
“I’m happy with the way my game is trending. I’m moving in the right direction. I have a pretty good plan for what needs to happen to get where I really want to be,” he said.
Vanderbilt University freshman Gordon Sargent won the individual title in a four-player playoff. He shot an even-par 280, as did Parker Coody from Texas, Ryan Burnett from North Carolina and Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra from Oklahoma State.
Anderson shot a one-over- par 71 on Friday and a two-over 72 on Saturday for a three-over par 143 after the first two rounds, good enough to tie him for 18th.
He shot four-over par 74s on Sunday and Monday.
“I’m not satisfied. My goal isn’t to finish 40th,” said the 21-year-old Anderson, who registered a 16-over-par 296 and tied for 65th at last year’s NCAA Division I championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club.
“There were a lot of positives to take from the week. My ball striking was good, but I left some shots on the green, for sure,” added Anderson, referring to his putting. “The conditions were tough. It was pretty windy three of the four days, and they let the greens get quick.”
He also said the pin placements were challenging.
Anderson and his Florida State teammates qualified for the NCAA Division I championships by finishing second at the PGA National Resort regional in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Anderson recorded a three-over par 219 and tied for 19th among 80 golfers at the regional. He finished third on his team behind Brett Roberts (209) and Bradbury (214).
Anderson had tied for 22nd at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City, Florida, with a two-under par 214.
He tied for third at the All-American Intercollegiate Tournament at the Golf Club of Houston in March with a two-under 142 over two rounds.
Anderson captured consecutive individual Class A individual championships in 2015, ’16 and ’17. He shared the 2017 title with Scarborough’s Anthony Burnham.
The Camden Hills High School of Rockport standout finished second in 2018 behind Mt. Ararat of Topsham’s Caleb Manuel, who is having an outstanding career at the University of Connecticut.
Manuel, a sophomore at UConn, qualified as an individual for the regionals at the Yale Golf Club in New Haven, Connecticut. His Huskies didn’t qualify as a team because Seton Hall won the Big East championship.
Manuel had to be the top finisher among the five individual golfers at the regional to advance to the championships but wound up second, three shots behind Virginia Commonwealth University’s Adrian Vagberg.
Vagberg shot a 19-over 229 at Grayhawk Golf Club and didn’t make the cut for the fourth round.
Anderson won the 100th Maine Amateur in 2019 at the Portland Country Club by eight strokes, shooting a nine-under par 201.
Anderson also won the Maine State Match Play title in 2018 and was the New England PGA Junior champion in 2017.