Wofford, Hudson lead Camden Collegiate
CAMDEN, S.C. – Senior Brannan Hudson fired rounds of 3-under-par 67 and 7-under-par 63 to put himself and the Wofford men’s golf team in first place on Monday at the Camden Collegiate Invitational, hosted by South Carolina at the Camden Country Club.
Hudson is 10-under-par for the tournament and has a five-stroke lead. He recovered from a double bogey on his opening 10th with an eagle at the par-5, 483-yard 13th and five birdies for his first-round 67. His second round was spectacular, as he carded five birdies and an eagle for a collegiate-best, bogey-free 63. Hudson birdied the first, second and fifth before sinking his second eagle of the day on the par-5 seventh, closing his second round with a 5-under 30 on Camden’s front nine.
The senior’s performance inspired Wofford to team rounds of 4-over-par 284 and 1-over-par 281, putting the Terriers in first place with a 5-over 565. Wofford leads the 15-team field, including the likes of 16th-ranked South Carolina. The Gamecocks are seven strokes back of the Terriers at 12-over-par.
Another key to Wofford’s day one success was sophomore Jeremy Grab. The Charleston, S.C., native shot rounds of 1-under 69 and even-par 70 and sits in a two-way tie for third at 1-under-par.
Other Terriers competing include senior Cory Taylor, freshman Evan Grenus and sophomore Andrew Novak. Taylor is tied for 42nd at 8-over, followed by Grenus in 50th (+9) and Novak in 63rd (+12). There are 81 players in the field.
The Wofford men’s golf team will look to lock down its second tournament championship of the 2014-15 campaign on Sunday. The Terriers tee off in the final five groups from the first hole. Hudson is in the final threesome, teeing off at 10:22 a.m.
Furman fourth at Camden Collegiate
CAMDEN, S.C. – The Furman men's golf team (+14) is in fourth place following two rounds of play Saturday at the Camden Collegiate Invitational at the par-70, 7,242-yard Camden Country Club.
Sophomore Bryce Howell (+1) is tied for seventh after carding a 72 in round one and a 69 in Saturday's second round. Howell, who birdied two holes in the opening round and three in Saturday's afternoon round, finished Saturday's play 11 strokes back of Brannan Hudson (-1) of Wofford, who shot a 67 in the morning round and fired a 63 in the afternoon round to finish the day 10-under-par.
Paladin junior Preston Cole (+2) birdied three holes in the morning round to lead the Paladins with a 69 then recorded three additional birdies in the second round to card a 73 and tie for 12th entering the final round. Junior Wehman Hopke (+5) biridied three holes in the morning and four in the afternoon, firing a 70 in the second round, to tie for 23rd after two rounds of play.
Junior Preston Heyward (+6) carded a 74 with two birdies in the opening round and a 72 with three birdies in the afternoon round to tie for 32nd, while freshman Hunter Nichols (+14) is tied for 68th after recording a 77 in each round on Saturday.
Wofford (+5) recorded a 284 in Saturday's morning round and a 281 in the afternoon to hold a seven-stroke lead over South Carolina (+12), while Radford (+13) is in third place, just one stroke back of the Gamecocks. The Paladins (+14) are in fourth place entering Sunday's final round.
Furman will tee off of No. 1 beginning at 9:10 a.m. on Sunday in the tournament's final round.
ETSU ninth at U.S. Collegiate Championship
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Adrian Meronk made a move on day two of the U.S. Collegiate Championship, as the ETSU junior golfer fired a 3-under-par 69 on Saturday at the Golf Club of Georgia – Lakeside Course.
Meronk, the 20th-ranked golfer via the Golfweek Rankings, moved 13 spots up the leaderboard and is tied for 11th at 3-under-par 141 (72-69) following second-round play. ETSU’s top golfer carded six birdies in the round and picked up two of them in his final three holes on Saturday.
As Meronk moved up the board, the 24th-ranked Buccaneers dropped four spots as a team. ETSU started the day in a tie for fifth with No. 8 Auburn, but the Blue and Gold ended the round in ninth place at 2-over-par 578. Overall, the Bucs finished Saturday’s round at 4-over 292.
Texas, the ninth-ranked team in the country, overtook No. 25 Virginia for the team lead. The Longhorns entered the day six shots back of the Cavaliers, but Texas will begin Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Virginia. The Longhorns posted a second-round score of even-par 288 and sit 10-under 566 for the championship, while the Cavaliers are in second at 9-under-par. Virginia finished 7-over on Saturday.
Individually, Virginia’s Denny McCarthy kept his spot atop the leaderboard intact as he totaled an even-par 72 and has a two-shot lead over teammate Derek Bard. McCarthy, who is No. 17 in the World Amateur Rankings, is 9-under-par 135 following 36 holes of competition.
After pacing the Bucs with a 4-under 68 in Friday’s opening round, senior Rhys Pugh moved into a tie for 19th after recording a 3-over 75 on Saturday. Pugh is 1-under-par 143 for the tournament, while sophomore Mateusz Gradecki fired a 1-under 71 in round two and is tied for 23rd at even-par 144. Gradecki was 4-under through 12 holes on Saturday but bogeyed three of his final six holes to end the day.
The Bucs wrap up play at the U.S. Collegiate Championship on Sunday as ETSU tees off at 8:30 a.m. The Blue and Gold are paired with No. 3 Stanford and defending champion Oklahoma State.