Georgia Southern finishes second at FAU Slomin Center Invitational
LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Scott Wolfes fired a 4-under-par 67 and Georgia Southern tallied a 282 to finish second in the FAU Slomin Center Invitational at The Fountains North Course on Sunday afternoon.
UCF (-13), which is ranked sixth in the country, won the tournament, and the Eagles (-7) were the only other team under par. Middle Tennessee State (+2) was third, followed by DePaul (+11) and Jacksonville State (+19).
Hayden Anderson shot a 70 for the Eagles on Sunday, and Will Evans notched a 71. Henry Mabbett carded a 74 and Charlie Martin finished with a 75.
Wolfes (-4) tied for fourth in the individual standings, and Anderson (-3) placed sixth. Evans (-1) tied for seventh, and Martin (+2) tied for 12th. Mabbett (+6) tied for 19th.
Wolfes posted a clean card with four birdies. The junior birdied his first two holes and birdied holes 11 and 14. Anderson also birdied his first two holes and made the turn at 2-under. The senior bogeyed 13, birdied 15 and bogeyed 16.
Evans birdied the first hole and then ran off eight straight pars. The senior bogeyed hole 10, birdied 11 and bogeyed hole 15. Martin double-bogeyed the first hole before notching nine straight pars. He bogeyed holes 11 and 17 for his 75.
Mabbett birdied the second and sixth holes but was hurt by a double-bogey on hole 3. He was 1-over at the turn and had two bogeys on the back for his 74.
The Eagles return to action at the Mason Rudolph Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt at The Legends Course, April 4-6.
Elon finishes fifth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – For the second day in a row, the Elon men's golf program climbed the team leaderboard at the Furman Intercollegiate. During Sunday's final round, the Phoenix moved into fifth place with a final score of 881 (295-290-296).
John Somers fired a final-round 71 to move into a tie for 14th out of the 111 participants, as he finished his three rounds with a 218 (75-72-71). In his final round, Somers had four birdies. Over his 54 holes, Somers notched 13 birdies.
The Phoenix pair of Stuart Kaufman (73-74-74) and Jonathan DiIanni (73-70-78) placed in a tie for 22nd. Kaufman tallied a total of six birdies over his three rounds of play. DiIanni recorded eight birdies and an eagle during the event.
In a tie for 54th was Will DiIanni, who posted a 226 (74-79-73). He finished with seven birdies and one eagle.
Finally, Jack Adkins tied for 59th with a mark of 227 (75-74-78). Over the course of three rounds, Adkins posted eight birdies, including four in his final round.
Virginia Tech's Trevor Cone, ranked 69th in the nation, claimed medalist honors with a 2-under-par 205 (66-69-70).
Georgia State and 10th-ranked Virginia Tech tied for the team lead at 855. Between those two squads and the Phoenix were 36th-rated Kennesaw State (862) and Akron (875).
The field featured three other SoCon programs. Wofford placed seventh with an 887, host Furman was eighth with an 889 and Western Carolina tied for 14th with a mark of 903.
Elon's final tuneup before the SoCon Championship will come at The Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational on April 14-15 in Spartanburg, S.C.
Wofford finishes seventh at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford College men's golf team turned in a final-round 12-over-par 300 to earn a seventh-place finish on Sunday at the 45th annual Furman Intercollegiate.
On a day in which the scoring average was significantly higher, the Terriers hung tough to post the sixth-best final-round score in the 18-team field. It earned Wofford a tournament total of 23-over-par 887, two strokes ahead of host Furman.
Senior Chandler Brazeal and freshman Andrew Novak were the highlight for Wofford, earning a pair of top-20 finishes in the 111-player field. Brazeal was nearly bogey-free on Sunday en route to an even-par 72, birdieing the par-5 16th and bogeying the par-4 ninth, his final hole of the day. He completed the tournament with a 3-over 219 to tie for 16th place.
Meanwhile, Novak posted three birdies and six bogeys to card a final-round 3-over 75. Novak birdied the par-4 third and par-5 sixth to get back to 1-over on his final round but bogeyed two of his last three holes. The freshman shot a 1-over 73 on Friday and an even-par 72 on Saturday, completing the tournament in 18th place at 4-over 220.
Senior George Perkovich carded a 4-over 76 and finished in 26th place at 6-over 222. His day was highlighted by yet another eagle on the par-5 sixth. He also eagled the hole on both Friday and Saturday, playing the sixth at 6-under on the weekend.
Junior Brannan Hudson and sophomore Jeremy Grab each wrapped up the tournament with a 5-over 77. Both were 6-over heading into the day and earned a tie for 59th place at 11-over 227.
Competing as an individual, Cory Taylor had the best final round of any Terrier. The junior was 2-over heading into this final four holes and proceeded to sink birdies at the sixth, seventh and finishing ninth, posting a 1-under 71. The round moved Taylor up 35 spots on the leaderboard, as he began the day in 72nd and finished in 37th at 7-over 223.
Senior Brent McKenzie also competed as an individual and finished in 97th with a three-round total of 22-over 238.
Next up for the Wofford men's golf team is the 26th annual Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational, which the Terriers will host Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15, at the Country Club of Spartanburg.
Furman finishes eighth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men's golf team fired a final-round 302 Sunday to finish eighth at the 45th Furman Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Paladin freshman Bryce Howell (+4) eagled the par-5 No. 15 and registered birdies on No. 2 and No. 4 to card an even 72 on Sunday to move into a tie for 18th place. Junior Michael Borton (+6) led the Paladins with four birdies, including three on the front nine, to tie for 26th after shooting a 76 in Sunday's final round.
Sophomore Wehman Hopke (+7) tied for 37th after shooting a 77 with a birdie on No. 15 on Sunday, finishing one stroke ahead of sophomore Preston Heyward (+8), who registered a 77 with three birdies in the final round to tie for 42nd.
Sophomore Preston Cole (+12) eagled the par-5 No. 2 and notched birdies on No. 11 and No. 15 to tie for 66th with a final-round 77. Senior Greg Carrier (+14) was the Paladins' top individual, tying for 77th with birdies on No. 2 and No. 11.
Furman (+25) will compete at the Southern Conference Championship at Pinehurst, N.C., April 20-22.
Samford finishes 10th at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Samford University men’s golf team used an eighth-place performance from junior Zach Hughes on Sunday to register a 10th-place finish at the 2014 Furman Intercollegiate, which was held at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Club.
Hughes turned in his best finish of the 2014 calendar year Sunday as he concluded the three-day, 54-hole event tied for eighth place with Virginia Tech’s Maclain Huge. Hughes finished the weekend with a three-round total of 1-under-par 215 (73-68-74).
On Saturday, Hughes posted a second-round tally of 68, which proved to be his best score of the tournament, as well as his best round of the season since the 2013 Francis Marion Springhill Suites Intercollegiate.
As a team, Samford carded a 54-hole mark of 898 (300-292-306) and finished the 18-team tournament tied for 10th place with Temple.
The field of the 2014 Furman Intercollegiate included Samford, host Furman, Akron, Charleston Southern, Elon, Francis Marion, Gardner-Webb, Georgia State, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Marshall, Presbyterian, Temple, USC Upstate, Virginia Tech, Western Carolina, Winthrop and Wofford.
Georgia State and 10th-ranked Virginia Tech shared the team championship title Sunday with identical scores of 9-under-par 855. It marked the second straight season that Virginia Tech earned at least a share of the team title.
Individually, Virginia Tech’s No. 69-ranked Trevor Cone earned individual medalist honors by posting a one-stroke victory over Georgia State’s J.J. Grey. Cone finished the weekend with a brilliant 11-under-par 205, while Grey carded a three-round mark of 206.
Samford senior William Catanzaro posted a 229 (74-73-82) and true freshman Garrett Moores followed with a 230 (76-75-79).
Additionally, the Bulldogs’ Ashton Nix and Robert Adams tallied scores of 230 (77-76-77) and 237 (79-82-76), respectively.
The Samford University men’s golf team will next be in action April 20-22, as the Bulldogs head to Pinehurst, N.C., for the 78th annual Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship, which will be held at the National Golf Club.
Western Carolina finishes 14th at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Western Carolina struggled through its final round on Sunday, carding a team 317 collectively to slip into a tie for 14th overall in the final standings as the 45th annual Furman Intercollegiate wrapped up at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
WCU finished with a three-day total of 903, just five strokes outside of the top 10.
The Catamounts were led by junior J.T. Poston, who just missed finishing inside the top 10 after shooting a three-round score of 1-over par 217 to place in a three-way tie for 11th.
Poston battled through his final round on Sunday, countering two double-bogeys and four bogeys with three birdies to shoot 5-over-par 77 – just his fifth round over par among the 24 turned in so far this season.
Junior Matthew Turner came home in a tie for 65th overall at 12-over-par 228, charting one birdie in his final round against eight holes of bogey or worse. Redshirt junior Collin Witiak was tied for 72nd overall at 229, shooting 77 on Sunday. An opening-hole triple-bogey set the tone for Witiak, who was 5-over through his first three holes. He rallied, though, countering two bogeys with a pair of birdies to play the final 15 holes even.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were freshman Evan Smith in a tie for 87th at 233 and junior transfer Braydon Obremski in a tie for 97th overall at 238.
Playing unattached as an individual, freshman Nont Panayanggool matched his second-round score of 77 on Sunday, finishing tied for 95th overall with a three-round score of 237 – his best 54-hole score of the spring semester.
In its final tuneup before the 2014 Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship, Western Carolina returns to action April 14-15 at the Wofford Invitational, hosted at the Country Club of Spartanburg.