UNCG finishes fifth at Pinehurst Intercollegiate
PINEHURST, N.C. – UNCG freshman men’s golfer Taylor Coalson posted his top collegiate finish, placing fourth overall to help the Spartans notch their lowest team finish of the season in fifth place at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate, played at the Pinehurst Resort.
The teams played single rounds the last three days with rounds one and three played on Pinehurst No. 6 and the middle round played on the daunting Pinehurst No. 2 course, which hosts the 2014 U.S. Open Championship.
Coalson recorded the Spartans’ first top-five finish of the season, maintaining his spot in the top five during the entire 54-hole event. He closed out the tournament with a 4-over par 75 Tuesday to finish with an 8-over par 220 (69-76-75). He finished six shots out of the lead held by Ball State’s Tyler Merkel with a 2-over par 214 (70-73-31).
As a team, the Spartans notched their best finish of the season in fifth place after posting an 899 on the event (292-311-296). The Spartans’ final round of 296 is their best third-round score of the season and their best since posting a 289 at the C&F Bank Intercollegiate last year (March 25-27) when they finished second overall. Ball State won the event, coming from behind to finish with an 885 (293-310-282) to win by three strokes over VCU.
Sophomore Roy Dixon, who made the move up the standings in day two, posted a 5-over 76 score Tuesday to post his top finish of the year in a tie for 17th overall. He finished the 54-hole event with a 225 (73-76-76), good for his second straight event with a 225, as he posted three rounds of 75 last weekend at the WSU Snowman Getaway.
Senior Robert Hoadley boasted the Spartans’ top round of the day Tuesday with a 1-over par 72 to move up 13 spots into a tie for 33rd with a 230 (76-82-72). Classmate Matt Younts turned in a 2-over par 73 in the final round to also move up the board, placing 36th overall with a 231 (77-81-73).
Sophomore Alex Ehlert rounded out the UNCG five-member lineup with a 232 (74-78-80) to finish 42nd.
The Spartans return to action March 24-26 when they head to the C&F Bank Intercollegiate hosted by William & Mary at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va. UNCG finished second overall in the event last season, two strokes behind Missouri, while Ehlert posted an eighth-place finish.
Appalachian State ties for seventh at Bash at the Beach
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Despite graduate student Daniel Walsh's 69 (-3), Appalachian State dropped two spots to seventh, where it tied with Northeastern State after the final round of the Bash at the Beach on Tuesday at The Surf Golf and Beach Club.
Walsh's 3-under paced the Mountaineers, as the team recorded a final-round 291, which was its second-lowest score of the three-day tournament. Walsh's final round clinched a fourth-place finish with a 70-72-68=210 (-3).
Following the graduate student was junior Casey Komline with a final-round 74. Komline finished his tournament run with a 218 (+4) and tied for 25th overall for the tournament.
Seniors Drew Harris and Jay Brown each posted 236s (+20) for the invitational, placing the duo in a tie for 60th.
Radford was crowned tournament champions, finishing the tournament with an 845 (-7) and three golfers within the top 10. James Madison's Rich Leeper earned medalist honors, leading the field with a 67-72-65=204 (-9). JMU captured the top two spots as Leeper's teammate, Trey Smith, carded a 69-70-66=205 (-8) for the tournament.
Individually, Appalachian State sophomore Eric Eberspeaker turned in one of his best tournament finishes in his career, firing a 69-71-74=214 (+1) and finishing tied for 14th. Freshman Caleb Keck followed Eberspeaker with a 75-74-75=224 (+11) and finishing 37th.
The Mountaineers return to the links on Saturday for the two-day Mission Inn Spring Spectacular in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. This year's tournament will be hosted by George Mason University.
Chattanooga finishes fifth at Tiger Invitational
OPELIKA, Ala. – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team tied for fifth at the Tiger Invitational on Tuesday, shooting 901. UTC played 36 holes Tuesday turning in scores of 301 and 302 to join Kentucky and Houston in fifth.
Benni Weilguni had his best finish of 2012-13, tying for third at 2-over par, 218. He shot consistent rounds of 73, 72 and 73 for his plus-2 total. He was not alone in the top 10.
Chris Robb tied for 10th, five strokes behind Weilguni. Robb opened with a level-par 72 before turning in cards of 76 and 75 Tuesday. He eagled his final hole, the par-5 seventh, to vault the Mocs back into a tie for fifth, which is where they started their final round.
Davis Bunn, Liam Johnston and Steven Fox rounded out the team’s tally. Bunn shot 230, which was four shots ahead of Johnston at 234. Fox came in at 236.
Mississippi State captured the team title by seven shots at 889. Memphis came in second at 896, just ahead of No. 21 Auburn at 899. South Alabama (900) was fourth, one shot clear of UTC and its partners at 901. No. 24 Wake Forest and Kennesaw State tied for eighth another stroke back at 902.
It was a clean sweep for the Bulldogs. Chad Ramey captured medalist honors with a 3-under par 213. He won by three shots over Auburn’s Niclas Carlsson at even-par 216. Weilguni tied for third with Memphis’ Will Pearson at 218.
Chattanooga is back on the tee March 22-24 at the Furman Intercollegiate.
Samford finishes 13th at Tiger Invitational
OPELIKA, Ala. – The Samford University men’s golf team carded a final tournament score of 927 (310-309-308) on Tuesday as the Bulldogs earned a 13th-place finish at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn University at the par-72, 7,149-yard Grand National Lake Course.
The field for the Tiger Invitational included six top-50 ranked opponents.
Samford’s Drew Aimone fired a team-best, even-par 72 in the final round of play Tuesday and finished the 54-hole tournament tied for 17th place in the individual standings. Aimone concluded the two-day competition with a three-round score of 225 (78-75-72).
True freshman Chris Clouser posted a 54-hole mark of 233 (75-81-77) for the Bulldogs on Tuesday, while Casey O’Toole followed closely at 234 (80-76-78) and sophomore Zach Hughes followed with a three-round total of 238 (79-77-82). Senior Bill Nabors rounded out Samford’s scoring with a final tally of 240 (78-81-81).
No. 41-ranked Mississippi State cruised to a seven-stroke victory. The Bulldogs tallied a three-round score of 889 (292-300-297) and finished ahead of Memphis (896), No. 21 Auburn (899) and South Alabama (900).
Chattanooga, the No. 42-ranked team in the nation, No. 31-ranked Houston and Kentucky all rounded out the top five with identical scores of 901.
Mississippi State’s Chad Ramey rallied from behind to claim medalist honors Tuesday. Despite starting the final round of play a stroke behind Auburn’s Niclas Carlsson, Ramey fired a third-round score of 2-under par 70 to claim the three-stroke victory. He concluded the tournament with a 54-hole tally of 3-under par 213.
The Samford University men’s golf team will next be in action March 22-24, as the Bulldogs travel to Greenville, S.C., for the 2013 Furman Intercollegiate to be held at the Furman Country Club.
Elon finishes ninth at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – John Somers fired a third-round 73 Tuesday to pace the Elon University men’s golf team on the final day of the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, as the Phoenix placed ninth in the 18-team field.
Elon posted an 892 (295-296-301) over three rounds, placing ninth overall and first among Southern Conference institutions with Furman, Western Carolina and Wofford among the field. As a team, Elon finished the event second overall in par-5 scoring at 14-under par, behind only Liberty, which ended the tournament 16-under.
Somers ended the tournament 10-over (76-71-73=220) to tie Penn’s Max Marsico for 22nd overall. Teammate Stuart Kaufman was one shot behind Somers, posting an 80 in the final round to finish 11-over (69-72-80=221) and tied for 24th with Georgia State’s Tyler Gruca and Augusta State’s Derek Chang. Somers and Kaufman ended the event as two of only 15 players to tally an eagle. Somers tied for fourth with a total of 11 birdies in the tournament and finished atop the field in par-5 scoring at 6-under.
Elon’s Jack Adkins and Will DiIanni each recorded a third-round 74 on the day, as Adkins finished tied for 36th with a three-round total of 224 (73-77-74). DiIanni ended the event tied for 60th overall with a three-round total of 230 (81-75-74).
Following a third-round 80 this afternoon, Elon’s Jeff Krieger ended the tournament tied for 84th overall with a three-round total of 240 (78-82-80).
Augusta State finished atop the 18-team field with a three-round score of 856 (284-290-282).
The Phoenix men’s golf team’s next official competition is April 15-16 for the Coca-Cola Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C., hosted by Wofford. Elon makes its trip abroad to England and Scotland later this month.
Furman finishes tied for 12th at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – Seniors Matt Brown and Anthony Aloi each notched a final round 76 to lead Furman to a 12th-place finish on Tuesday in the 16th Annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate at the par-70 Palmetto Golf Club.
Brown, a native of Brookeville, Md., claimed a share of 42nd place at 15-over par. Freshmen Preston Cole and Wehman Hopke concluded the 54-hole tournament with 7-over 77s to share 45th place at 16-over par.
The Paladins return home to host the Furman Intercollegiate at the Furman University Golf Course March 22-24.
Western Carolina finished 14th at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – Western Carolina put two golfers inside the top 30 of the individual standings to finish 14th as a team after a final-round 310 dropped the squad to 904 over the two days at the 16th annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate held at the 6,617-yard, par-70 Palmetto Golf Club.
Sophomore J.T. Poston and senior Steven Smith paced the Catamounts, both shooting 222 over the three-round tournament to finish amidst a five-way tie for 27th place. Smith led the squad on the final day, shooting a 4-over par 74 to advance 11 positions from his starting position after 36 holes. The Kirknewton, Scotland, native carded rounds of 72 and 76 on Monday before his 4-over in the final round. Poston shot 77 on Tuesday, following up his rounds of 72 and 73.
Senior Kyle Wilson finished tied for 65th overall at 231 (78-74-79), shooting 9-over 79 in the final round. Freshman Tyler Lail came home tied for 70th with rounds of 74, 75 and 83 for a two-day total of 232. Sophomore Matthew Turner rounded out WCU’s finishers in 90th, finishing with rounds of 80, 83 and 80 for a total of 243.
As a team, WCU recorded 137 par scores with 29 birdies over the 54-hole event. Turner was one of just 15 golfers in the 90-golfer field to card and eagle.
Western Carolina returns to the links on March 22-24 at the Furman Intercollegiate, hosted by the Paladins at the Furman University Golf Course located just off their Greenville, S.C., campus.
Wofford finishes 17th at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – The Wofford men’s golf team finished 17th at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the 6,617-yard, par-70 Palmetto Golf Club.
Charles Moore paced the Terriers with a 72-78-76=226, while Cory Taylor followed with a 76-80-74=230. Stuart McGoogan carded a 77-78-76=231, and Brent McKenzie fired a 75-76-84=235. Brannan Hudson was the final Wofford golfer, as he finished the 54-hole event with an 82-80-77=239.
Wofford opened the tournament with a 300 followed by a 312 before shooting a 303 on day two for a 915 team score.
Augusta State, 284-290-282=856, took the top team spot, while Matt Atkins, 68-68-70=206, of USC Aiken was the individual medalist.
Wofford tees off again at the Furman Intercollegiate on March 22 for its next tournament.