Hudson wins Camden Collegiate, Wofford finishes second
CAMDEN, S.C. – Wofford senior Brannan Hudson won the Camden Collegiate Invitational in dominant fashion, finishing six strokes ahead of the field at 9-under-par 201 Sunday at the Camden Country Club.
Hudson went into the final round with a five-shot lead after carding rounds of 3-under-par 67 and a career-low 7-under-par 63 on Saturday. He coasted to victory with a 1-over 71 Sunday, six shots ahead of fellow Terrier Jeremy Grab and USC Upstate’s Ryan Cornfield.
The individual championship is the first of Hudson’s career. He finished runner-up at the 2012 Southern Conference Championship as a freshman and also took second at last fall’s Springhill Suites Intercollegiate.
Grab’s second place finish is the best of his young career. The sophomore saved his best round of the tournament for Sunday, carding a 2-under-par 68 to catch Cornfield for second. Grab did not card a round over par all weekend (69-70-68).
It was a two-team battle for the team title. Wofford went into the final 18 with a seven-shot lead on No. 10/16 South Carolina but was caught and finished second. The Gamecocks combined for a final round 5-under-par 275, eight shots better than Wofford’s 3-over-par 283, to win their home tournament by a single stroke at 7-over-par 847.
Wofford’s took second at 8-over-par 848, 17 shots better than third-place Furman (+25). It marked Wofford’s second runner-up finish of the season to go with a tournament title at the Rutgers Invitational.
Freshman Evan Grenus wrapped up his tournament with an even-par 70 to earn a top-25 at 9-over-par. Senior Cory Taylor tied for 39th (+13) and sophomore Andrew Novak tied for 56th (+16).
The Terriers have one tournament remaining on their fall schedule. Wofford will close out its outstanding fall in two weeks at The Hummingbird Intercollegiate in Sapphire, North Carolina. The tournament is scheduled to begin Saturday, Nov. 1.
Furman finishes third at Camden Collegiate
CAMDEN, S.C. – Junior Preston Cole (-1) fired a 67 Sunday to lead the Furman men's golf team (+25) to a third-place finish at the Camden Collegiate Invitational at the par-70, 7,242-yard Camden Country Club.
Cole, who recorded five birdies on the day including back-to-back birdies on No. 1 and No. 2, finished Sunday's play eight strokes back of Brannan Hudson (-9) of Wofford, who claimed individual medalist honors after shooting a 67-63-71 for a three-round total of 201.
Paladin sophomore Bryce Howell (+2) birdied No. 6 to card a 71 on Sunday and finish in ninth place. Junior Wehman Hopke (+12) scored one birdie on the front and one on the back to tie for 32nd, while junior Preston Heyward (+14) birdied No. 9 and tied for 47th. Freshman Hunter Nichols (+20) notched three birdies in Sunday's final round, tying for 64th.
South Carolina (+7) scored a final-round 275 to win the tournament by one stroke over Wofford (+8), while Furman (+25) finished third, two strokes head of Charleston Southern (+27). Radford (+32) rounded out the top five teams at the tournament.
Furman will conclude the 2014 fall season Nov. 1-2 at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate in Cashiers, N.C.
ETSU finishes 12th at U.S. Collegiate Championship
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – For the fifth straight time this season, junior Adrian Meronk led the ETSU men’s golf team in scoring.
Meronk, who already has two tournament wins under his belt this fall, finished tied for 13th and the 24th-ranked Buccaneers placed 12th as the final round of the U.S. Collegiate Championship concluded on Sunday at the Golf Club of Georgia – Lakeside Course.
The Buccaneer junior fired an even-par 72 on Sunday and Meronk – the 20th-ranked golfer by Golfweek – finished the tournament at 3-under-par 213 (72-69-72).
Overall, ETSU recorded a team score of 9-over in the final round and ended 11-over-par 875 (286-292-297) on the weekend.
Texas held off No. 25 Virginia to claim its first-ever U.S. Collegiate Championship as the ninth-ranked Longhorns edged the Cavaliers by one stroke, 843 to 844. The Longhorns began the day with a one-shot lead over Virginia and both teams shot 11-under 277, while Texas claimed the team championship with a 54-hole score of 21-under-par (278-288-277).
Virginia captured the individual title, as Derek Bard leaped teammate Denny McCarthy for medalist honors. McCarthy led Bard by two shots going into the final round, but Bard fired an 8-under 64 on Sunday to win the prestigious tournament by six strokes. Bard registered a three-round score of 15-under-par 201 (66-71-64) and McCarthy finished runner-up at 9-under-par 207 (63-72-72).
Junior Chris Hickman posted ETSU’s lowest score on Sunday as the Centreville, Md. native carded a 1-under 71. Hickman tied for 54th at 6-over-par 222 (73-78-71), while sophomore Mateusz Gradecki tied for 32nd at 2-over-par 218 (73-71-74).
The tournament, which featured 10 teams ranked in the top 25 nationally, is often referred as “The Masters of College Golf.” ETSU placed ahead of No. 3 Stanford and 2013 champion Oklahoma State this weekend in the 15-team field.
The Bucs wrap up their fall season in two weeks at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational in Kauai, Hawaii. The three-day tournament begins Monday, Nov. 3.