Chattanooga finishes second at Bridgestone Collegiate
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team finished second at the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate.
The Mocs were 7-over par just past the midway point in the round. The counting scores played minus-9 the rest of the way to shoot 2-under 286 for their final 18.
The field included the No. 10 team in the nation in Virginia Tech as well as three ranked in the 30s. The Mocs beat the Hokies by five, No. 30 Iowa State by 16, No. 31 Purdue by seven and No. 33 Memphis by three.
Liam Johnston tied his career-best round with a 67. He opened his round with 11 straight pars before a birdie binge. He recorded five in a row for his 5-under total and a level-par 144 finish, tying for ninth. It is his third top-10 in three starts in 2013-14 as well as third round in the 60s.
Ewan Scott posted his second straight top-10, ending up at 2-under par 142. His tie for third was a career-best for the freshman. He played minus-4 over his last six holes to join Johnston in securing the squad’s runner-up finish.
Senior Chris Robb rebounded after a slow start. He bogeyed the first three holes but played the final 15 at minus-2. His 73 (+1) gave him a 1-under-par 143, tying for sixth.
Wes Gosselin was the final counter with a 3-over 75 for a total of 149. Davis Bunn rounded out the team scoring at 155. Stuart Thomas shot a second straight 75 to end up at 150.
Chattanooga ended up six shots behind North Carolina. The Tar Heels shot 283 (-5) for a 36-hole 571 (-5). The Mocs shot 1-over 577, which was three clear of third-place Memphis and five ahead of Virginia Tech at 582.
UNC’s Henry Do and Memphis’s Lars van Meijel shared medalist honors at 5-under (139). Scott tied for third, three back at 142, followed by Robb (T6) and Johnston (T9) within one and two shots, respectively.
A handful of Mocs take on the Savannah Quarters Individual on Feb. 10-11 in Savannah, Ga. The team returns to action Feb. 17-18 at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate.
UNCG finishes seventh at Bridgestone Collegiate
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s golf team closed out the ninth annual Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in seventh place Sunday with a 36-hole score of 585 (290-295) at the Grandover Resort East Course. North Carolina won the event with a two-day total of 5-under-par 571 (288-283), while Chattanooga was second with a 1-over-par 577 (291-286).
Freshman Carter Jenkins was the Spartans’ top finisher, as he tied for sixth overall with a 1-over-par 143. Jenkins opened the tournament with a 3-under-par 69 Saturday before posting a 2-over-par 74 Sunday. He held the individual lead after eight holes Sunday, as he was 4-under at that time, before closing the day shooting 6-over on the last 10 holes.
Memphis’ Lars van Meijel and North Carolina’s Henry Do tied for medalist position with 5-under 139. Van Meijel came from behind as he carded the low round of the event Sunday with a 6-under 66 to go along with his 1-over 73 Saturday. Do held the day-one lead after a 4-under-par 68 and picked up a stroke Sunday with a 1-under-par 71. Only eight golfers finished the 36-hole event under par.
The Bridgestone Golf Collegiate is in its ninth year and is one of the most prestigious events of the fall season. This year’s field included 10 teams ranked in the top 100 in the golf rankings in No. 64 UNCG, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 30 Iowa State, No. 31 Purdue, No. 33 Memphis, No. 54 Georgia State, No. 58 Mississippi State, No. 66 North Carolina, No. 75 VCU, No. 76 Washington State, No. 79 NC State and No. 84 Chattanooga.
UNCG sophomore Taylor Coalson finished tied for 16th overall with a 1-over 145. Coalson opened with a 1-over 73 Saturday before rallying for an even-par 72 Sunday. He closed with two birdies on his final four holes, picking up a stroke on No. 16 and No. 18.
Junior Roy Dixon battled to a 26th-place finish with a 3-over 147. Dixon opened with a 1-over 73 Saturday before carding a 2-over 74 Sunday. His up-and-down round two saw him post four birdies, including on Nos. 14-15, but also card six bogeys, including three straight from No. 16-18.
Freshman Jake McGlone finished in 44th place with a 6-over 150. McGlone turned in scores of 3-over-par 75 in both rounds. Sophomore Luke Haithcock rounded out the Spartans’ lineup with a 154 (76-78).
Junior Alex Ehlert played as an individual and finished tied for 30th overall with a 4-over-par 148. Ehlert opened with a 78 in round one but recovered to post the Spartans’ low-round Sunday with a 2-under 70, as he posted five birdies, including four on his back nine. Additionally, redshirt freshman Will Thomas carded a 155 (78-77) as an individual.
The Bridgestone Golf Collegiate is the Spartans’ final event of the fall season. UNCG returns to the course Feb. 23-25 when it travels to the Puerto Rico Challenge.
Georgia Southern eighth at The Invitational at the Ocean Course
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The Georgia Southern golf team posted a team total of 302 at The Ocean Course Sunday and sits in eighth place after the first round of The Invitational, hosted by College of Charleston.
The Eagles (+14) are one shot back of Notre Dame (+13) in seventh and two behind sixth-place Florida (+12). Kentucky, which shot an even-par 288, is leading the tournament, followed by South Florida (+3), South Alabama (+6), Charleston Southern (+9) and Georgia (+9). The tournament features six teams in Golfweek’s top-100 rankings.
Scott Wolfes shot a 2-over 74 and is tied for 20th in the individual standings, while Hayden Anderson carded a 75 and is tied for 26th. Will Evans posted a 76, and Kim Koivu finished with a 77. Henry Mabbett and Drew Guffey, who is playing as an individual, each carded 79s.
The Eagles teed off on hole 10, and Wolfes got off to a great start with birdies on holes 10, 13 and 15 that took him to 2-under. He slipped a bit at the turn, double-bogeying 16 and bogeying 17, and played the front nine at 1-over.
Anderson, who is seeing his first tournament action of the season, got off to a bumpy start with a double-bogey on 11 and a bogey on 12. The senior got going from there and birdied holes 13 and 15 to move to 1-over. He birdied hole 1 to get back to even, but a double-bogey on hole 2 and a bogey on hole 9 gave him the 75.
Evans double-bogeyed 11 but played the rest of the back nine even and made the turn at 2-over. The senior birdied hole 3 to get to 1-over but a double-bogey on hole 6 and a bogey on hole eight dropped him to 4-over.
Birdies on holes 10 and 18 helped Koivu get through his first nine holes at 2-over. The junior was 3-over through 17 holes but double-bogeyed his final hole.
Mabbett was 10-over on his first nine holes but turned it around on his final nine holes. He logged four birdies and a bogey to go 3-under and finish the day with a 79.
Guffey started with a double-bogey on hole 10 and a bogey on 12 but rattled off six straight pars to make the turn at 3-over. The senior bogeyed hole 1 but birdied 2 and logged four straight pars to stay at 3-under with three holes left, but he played those three at 4-over and wound up 7-over.
The Eagles will tee off hole 1 at 7:50 a.m. Tuesday in second-round action.
Poston leads, Western Carolina ninth at The Invitational at the Ocean Course
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Western Carolina junior J.T. Poston carded seven birdies as a part of firing an opening-round 5-under-par 67 on Sunday afternoon to lead the 78-golfer field at The Invitational at the Ocean Course, hosted by the College of Charleston. The Catamounts shot 304 collectively as a team to sit in ninth place overall, just seven strokes outside of the Top Five.
Paired with golfers from Southern Conference foe Georgia Southern and Notre Dame, WCU’s scoring five has tee times on the front nine beginning at 7:50 a.m. on Monday in the tournament’s second round. Poston rounds out the Catamount quintet on the par-72, 7,080-yard course beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Poston opened his round with three straight birdies, adding a fourth on the par-4 sixth to sit at 4-under a third of the way through his first 18 holes. Back-to-back bogeys surrounding his turn on the par-4 ninth and par-4 10th left him at 2-under par for the round. The Hickory, N.C., native closed, however, with three birdies over his final eight holes, moving to a tournament-low 5-under on the par-5 16th before shooting par on the final two holes of the day.
Behind Poston, sophomore Tyler Lail sits tied for 39th overall. After opening with five consecutive pars, Lail stumbled with a double-bogey on the par-4, 407-yard sixth, followed by three consecutive bogeys to make the turn at 5-over. The Conover, N.C., product played even on the back nine, countering a pair of bogeys with two birdies to shoot 5-over 77.
Senior Jack Walsh is tied for 54th after the first round, shooting 7-over 79, with freshmen Evan Smith (81, tied for 66th) and Nont Panayanggool (84, tied for 74th) rounding out the Catamounts’ scoring side. Walsh countered seven holes over par with a birdie on the par-4, 15th, with Smith also charting his lone birdie on No. 15. Panayanggool had a busy scorecard, combating 10 holes of bogey or worse with four birdies – the second-most on the squad on the opening day.
Poston holds a one-stroke edge over second-place Tyler Wingo from Notre Dame, who shot 4-under 68. The two will be paired with Georgia Southern’s top golfer, Scott Wolfes – who is tied for 20th in the standings – on day two. South Florida’s Richard James sits third, two strokes in arrears and just ahead of a three-way tie for fourth place.
On the team leader board, No. 39 Kentucky posted an even-par team round of 288 to lead No. 17 South Florida by three strokes after the Bulls shot 291 on Sunday. South Alabama is third at 294 with Charleston Southern and No. 8 Georgia tied for fourth, nine strokes back at 297.