UNCG finishes second at Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Junior Roy Dixon finished a career-best second overall with a thrilling late charge at the Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate hosted by William & Mary on Tuesday to lead the No. 48 UNCG men’s golf team to a second-place team showing, jumping three teams in the final day. The second-place finish for the Spartans marked their fifth top-three showing of the season and third straight event in the top three.
The Spartans fired a 285 in the final round, the lowest round of the day, jumping over James Madison, Eastern Michigan and Radford to finish behind just No. 50 Texas Tech at the Kingsmill Resort River Course. UNCG finished the 54-hole event with a 24-over-par 864 (293-286-285), while Texas Tech posted an 11-over par-851 (288-278-285) to claim the title.
Dixon provided the drama Tuesday as he entered the day in 14th place but made a valiant charge up the leaderboard, leapfrogging 12 golfers to record his career-best finish in a tie for second place. This marks his second straight top-three finish after posting a third-place showing last week at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate in what was, at that point, his best career finish.
Dixon, who opened the event with back-to-back 72s in the first two rounds, notched the lowest round of any individual on the three-day event with a 5-under-par 65 Tuesday. He recorded seven birdies in the final round to go along with just two bogeys and nine par scores. He made a late charge at the top spot, recording birdies on the final three holes of the afternoon on holes No. 16-18, finishing just one shot behind winner Clement Sordet of Texas Tech. Dixon finished with a 1-under-par 209 (72-72-65), while Sordet was 2-under-par 208 (71-67-70).
Freshman Carter Jenkins posted the Spartans’ second top-five finish of the week, placing in a tie for fourth overall, just two shots off the lead at even-par 210. Jenkins opened the event with a 2-under-par 68 in round one and added an even-par 70 in round two before closing out with a 2-over-par 72 in the third and final round. His fourth-place showing marks his fifth top-10 finish of his rookie campaign. Jenkins was up and down on the final round, recording six birdies, four bogeys and two double-bogeys.
Sophomore Taylor Coalson ended the Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate in 19th place with a 9-over-par 219. Coalson improved 46 spots on the leaderboard after the first round, in which he posted a 6-over-par 76. He followed that up with a 1-over-par 71 Monday and a 2-over-par 72 Tuesday. His highlight of the final round came with an eagle-3 on the par-5 hole No. 7.
Freshman Jake McGlone placed 62nd on the week with a 16-over-par 226 (77-73-76). Junior Alex Ehlert withdrew from round one due to an illness but returned in round two with a 5-over-par 75 and a 9-over par-79 in the final round.
The Spartans return to action April 14-15 for their final tuneup before the Southern Conference Championship as they travel to Mississippi for the Bancorp South Intercollegiate at Reunion Country Club.
Appalachian State finishes sixth at Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Appalachian State men’s golf team finished in sixth place out of 27 schools at the Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate on the par-70, 6,765-yard River Course at the Kingsmill Resort on Tuesday.
The Mountaineers started the third round in sixth place and finished in sixth despite bad weather conditions. Wind gusts were nearly 20 mph and a cold and rainy day proved to be challenging for nearly all golfers. The average score for the third round was 75.59, just slightly better than the overall course average of 75.82.
Senior John Michael Cole had the best tournament for the Mountaineers but could not sustain that excellent play in the third round. In the first round, Cole tied his season low of 69 (-1) and finished the second round with a 72 (+2). He was tied for fifth place after the second round, but the 76 (+6) in the final round dropped him to tie for 13th.
Sophomore Lee Mitchell started the tournament carding a 75 (+5) and improved in the second round, finishing with 71 (+1). In the third round, he matched his first-round score of 75 to finish tied for 25th place.
Senior Casey Komline started the tournament off roughly, carding the worst score for Appalachian on the day, 80 (+10), but carded a 71 (+1) in both the second and third rounds to finish tied for 37th place.
Sophomore Caleb Keck finished tied for 54th, only three strokes behind Komline, and juinor Eric Eberspeaker carded a total score of 228, which was three strokes behind Keck.
The second round was the best round for the Mountaineers, as they turned in a score of 287 (+7). They finished with an overall total of 878 (+38)
No. 50 Texas Tech won the tournament with a total team score of 851. Clement Sordet of Texas Tech was crowned individual champion, posting a total score of 208 (-2).
The Mountaineers will be back in action at the annual University Cup on April 3 against Gardner-Webb at the Mimosa Hills Country Club in Morganton, N.C.