Appalachian State second at Hummingbird Intercollegiate
SAPPHIRE, N.C. – Appalachian State completed the first round of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate on Sunday.
The Mountaineers are currently in second place after carding a first round 287 for a 3-over-par finish on Sunday. They are currently four strokes behind Belmont, which led the way with a 283.
Caleb Keck and Casey Komline are leading the way for the Mountaineers after the first day. Both are tied for fifth place individually after firing a 71 each, which is good for even on the day. Lee Mitchell is tied for 10th after shooting a 72 and sits 1-over par after the first round. John Michael Cole is tied for 15th at 2-over par after shooting a 73. Eric Eberspeaker is tied for 40th with a 77 on Sunday and sits 6-over par.
Samford fourth at Hummingbird Intercollegiate
SAPPHIRE, N.C. – In the opening round of the 2013 Hummingbird Intercollegiate, the Samford men’s golf team carded an 18-hole score of 7-over-par 291 Sunday to move into fourth place in the three-day tournament’s early standings. The 10-team competition is being hosted by Western Carolina University at the par-71, 6,767-yard Country Club of Sapphire Valley.
Samford trails first-place Belmont by just eight strokes and second-place Appalachian State by four shots. Tennessee Tech, the Bulldogs’ former Ohio Valley Conference rival, currently sits in third place with a day-one total of 4-over-par 288.
Individually, Samford true freshman Garrett Moores paced the team with a first-round total of even-par 71. The Bulldogs’ talented native of Huntsville, Ala., will enter Monday’s second round of action tied for fifth place.
Samford senior William Catanzaro is also ranked among the top-10 players in the individual standings, as he carded an 18-hole mark of 1-over-par 72. Sophomore Chris Clouser followed closely with a 73 on Sunday, while junior Zach Hughes posted a 75 and Austin Jackson added a 79.
Clouser, who is also a native of Huntsville, Ala., is currently tied for 15th place in the race for individual medalist honors.
Entering the week as the top-ranked golfer in the most-recent GolfStat Cup rankings, Western Carolina junior J.T. Poston is tied atop the leaderboard with the Belmont duo of Sean Buchanan and Ashton Van Horne, as the trio carded matching scores of 2-under-par 69.
The Samford University men’s golf team will resume play in the 2013 Hummingbird Intercollegiate on Monday at 8:30 a.m. (CDT). Groups will tee off on both the front and back nines with front-nine tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m., with the back nine starting at 8:35 a.m.
Western Carolina tied for fifth at Hummingbird Intercollegiate
SAPPHIRE, N.C. – Belmont carded an opening-round 1-under-par 283 as a team on Sunday to hold a four-stroke edge over second-place Appalachian State (287) and the remainder of the 10-team field after 18 holes at the 2013 Hummingbird Intercollegiate, hosted by Western Carolina at the par-71, 6,767-yard Country Club of Sapphire Valley. The Catamounts shot 294 collectively in the first round to sit in a tie for fifth with Wofford College.
Entering the week as the top-ranked golfer in the most-recent GolfStat Cup rankings, Western Carolina junior J.T. Poston is tied atop the leaderboard with the Belmont duo of Sean Buchanan and Ashton Van Horne, as the trio carded matching scores of 1-under-par 69.
The start of the opening round on Sunday morning was delayed 45 minutes due to frost across the valley floor. Monday’s second round and Tuesday’s final round are scheduled for tee times beginning at 9:30 a.m. but are subject to frost delays.
Poston carded 12 pars in the opening round, countering back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes with four birdies. The Hickory, N.C., native shot 3-under-par on the back nine, heating up on an otherwise seasonably crisp afternoon.
Catamount senior Jack Walsh is tied for 10th after shooting a season-low round of 1-over-par 72 on Sunday. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native made the turn to the back nine at 2-over-par. He sandwiched birdies on the par-4 12th and par-5 14th around a bogey on the par-4 No. 13 to shoot 1-under on the back nine.
Sophomore Tyler Lail, who led WCU with a fourth-place finish at the same event a year ago, shot 2-over par 73 in this year’s opening round. Lail was even through eight holes after countering a bogey on No. 4 with a birdie on the par-5, 507-yard sixth, but a double-bogey on No. 9 left him making the turn at 2-over. A second double-bogey on his round on No. 11 put him to 4-over before the Conover, N.C., native finished his round with birdies on No. 12 and 16.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were junior Collin Witiak and senior Greg Bunner in a tie for 48th overall at 9-over 80. Witiak birdied the par-3 11th but shot bogey or worse on eight holes, while Bunner had seven bogeys and one double-bogey over the opening 18 holes.
Playing unattached, WCU’s Evan Smith was the top performer among the six individuals in the field, shooting the best round of his young collegiate career at 1-over-par 72 to sit tied for 10th.
Also playing as individuals, Matthew Turner and Alex Simmons are tied for 24th overall at 3-over-par 74. Turner had 13 pars, four bogies and one birdie while Simmons, who was making his WCU debut, overcame seven holes of bogey or worse with four birdies and the second of two eagles carded by the field on the day.
Catamount freshman Nont Panayanggool rounded out the four individuals for WCU, shooting 7-over-par 78.
Paired with golfers from fellow Southern Conference foes Samford and Wofford, WCU’s scoring five is scheduled to tee off on the front nine beginning at 9:30 a.m. with co-leader Poston teeing off at approximately 10:10 a.m. WCU’s four individuals hit the course on the back nine beginning at 9:35 a.m.
Wofford tied for fifth at Hummingbird Intercollegiate
SAPPHIRE, N.C. – The Wofford College men’s golf team began its final tournament of the fall season on Sunday, opening the 2013 Hummingbird Intercollegiate with a 10-over-par 294 to sit in a tie for fifth place. The three-round tournament is being contested at the par-71, 6,767-yard Country Club of Sapphire Valley.
Wofford’s 10-over round ties with host Western Carolina. Belmont holds the clubhouse lead after posting the only team round under par of the day at 1-under 283. Appalachian State is in second place (+3), followed by Tennessee Tech (+4) and Samford (+7). In all, 10 teams and 56 players are competing in the tournament.
A trio of Terriers that includes senior Brent McKenzie, junior Brannon Hudson and freshman Andrew Novak shot rounds of 2-over-par 73. Hudson recovered from a 5-over 41 on the front nine to card three birdies and no bogeys on the back, coming in with a 3-under 32. Both McKenzie and Novak went out with a 1-over 37 and shot a 1-over 36 on the back. All three are tied for 15th place.
Seniors George Perkovich and Chandler Brazeal make up the rest of Wofford’s starting five. The duo each shot rounds of 4-over-par 75 and are tied for 29th place. Perkovich’s day began with three bogeys and a triple-bogey on the front for a 6-over 42, but he came back to shoot 2-under on the back with three birdies. Brazeal had one birdie on each side, shooting 2-over on both the front and back.
Round two of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate begins Monday at 9:30 a.m. The Terriers are in the first five groups to tee off from 9:30 to 10:10 a.m.
Elon 11th at Wendy’s Kiawah Classic
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – After posting a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday, Jack Adkins paced the Elon men's golf team to an 11th-place standing following one round of the 2013 Wendy's Kiawah Classic. The Phoenix finished day one with a mark of 300.
Adkins ended the opening round just two strokes off the lead shared by Radford's Nick Brediger and South Carolina's Will Starke at 69. Adkins is one of six players tied for sixth at -1.
Two Phoenix players are tied for 34th, as both Jeff Krieger and Will DiIanni carded 75s on Sunday.
Four strokes behind that pair is Raphael Higuet, who posted a 79 to tie for 69th.
Finally, in a tie for 78th out of 96 players is John Somers, who shot an 80.
The 18-team field was paced on day one by 28th-ranked South Carolina. The Gamecocks posted a mark of 283 (-5).
Sitting second is Radford (291), while a threesome of Presbyterian, host Charleston Southern and Marquette are tied for third at 292.
The field also includes highly ranked teams in No. 51 Winthrop (T6th, 295), No. 44 Missouri (T9th, 299) and No. 54 Minnesota (15th, 309).