Western Carolina sixth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Senior J.T. Poston carded an opening-round 3-under-par 69 on Friday to pace Western Carolina men’s golf into sixth place after 18 holes at the 46th-annual Furman Intercollegiate being held at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Round two gets underway with tee times at both 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday. Paired with golfers from USC Aiken and Gardner-Webb, WCU’s scoring five tee off on the back nine beginning at 8 a.m.
Poston started his day with two birdies within his first three holes to quickly jump out to a 2-under-par start through the first four holes of the tournament. Over the final five of the front nine, the Hickory, N.C., native had two bogeys with a third birdie to make the turn to the back nine at 1-under-par.
The fourth-year Catamount opened his back nine with four consecutive pars before a fourth birdie of his opening round on the par-3 14th. Poston then carded an eagle on the par-5 15th, moving to 4-under-par for his round with three holes to play. A bogey on the par-3 16th followed by back-to-back pars left Poston at 3-under 69 on the day.
WCU freshman Bright Julamool is tied for 44th overall after shooting 2-over-par 74, finishing with three birdies including two on the back nine against a total of five bogeys. Julamool made the turn at even-par with a bogey and birdie on his opening nine holes.
Rounding out Western Carolina’s scoring five are junior Tyler Lail in a tie for 51st after a first round score of three-over, 75, with junior Matthew Turner (76) sitting in a tie for 59th and freshman Jackson Bishop (79) in a tie for 87th.
USC Aiken put two individuals inside the individual top 10 to lead the 18-team field after 18 holes with an opening-round 284. Jacksonville is two strokes back at 286, with Troy in third at 288 ahead of a two-way tie for fourth place between Georgia State and Akron at 290.
USCA’s Brandon Robinson-Thompson and Nick Torrance from Jacksonville are tied atop the individual leaderboard after matching rounds of 5-under-par 67. The two are just ahead of the three-way tie for third that includes WCU’s Poston.
Round two is scheduled for Saturday with the final 18 holes to be played on Sunday.
Chattanooga seventh at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team is in seventh place after 18 holes at the Furman Intercollegiate. Chattanooga opened with a 7-over-par 295, led by senior Liam Johnston’s even-par 72. The squad is one ahead of Temple and two clear of Virginia Tech and Francis Marion.
The Mocs played the front nine 4-under-par with 10 of the 13 counting birdies on the way out. The way in was a different story. The tougher back side accounted for 11 of 17 bogeys and the lone other (triple) leading to 11-over for the nine and the 295 total.
Johnston is in a tie for 20th, one stroke ahead of Andrew Weathers at 1-over (73). Wes Gosselin and Ewan Scott completed the team score with twin 75s. Kory Webb had the drop score with an 82, while individuals Brooks Thomas and Zac Stolz shot 77 and 84, respectively.
Chattanooga remains paired with Virginia Tech and Wofford on Saturday. The threesome heads to No. 10 at 8:50 a.m. Webb is first off the tee, followed by Scott (9:00), Gosselin (9:10), Weathers (9:20) and Johnston (9:30).
Furman tied for 11th at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Junior Wehman Hopke (-2) fired a 70 to sit tied for sixth place to lead the Furman men’s golf team in the opening round of the 46th Furman Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Hopke (-2) birdied two holes on the front and two on the back, finishing the round just three strokes back of Nick Torrance (-5) of Jacksonville and Brandon Robinson-Thompson (-5) of USC Aiken, who each carded a 67 on Friday to tie for the individual lead.
The Paladins (+12) are tied with Davidson (+12) and Marshall (+12) for 11th place following Friday’s round.
Sophomore Bryce Howell (-1) scored three birdies on the front, including consecutive birdies on No. 5 and No. 6, then added two additional birdies on the back for a first-round 71 to tie for ninth following one round of play, while junior Preston Cole (+5), who eagled the par-5 No. 15, recorded two birdies to tie for 70th after posting a 77 on Friday.
Freshman Adam Garrett (+10) notched birdies on No. 2 and No. 12 to tie for 106th after carding an 82 in the opening round, and junior Preston Heyward (+11) carded an 83 in the first round with birdies on No. 1 and No. 15 to enter Saturday’s second round tied for 110th.
Redshirt freshman Alex Taylor (+1), the Paladins’ top individual after the first round of play, is tied for 30th after birdieing No. 2 and No. 7 on the front and No. 13 on the back for a 73 in Friday’s round.
Furman (+12) will tee off of No. 1 at 8 a.m. on Saturday in the second round of the 54-hole tournament.