Western Carolina ties for ninth at Gary Koch Invite
GASTONIA, N.C. – Western Carolina junior Tyler Lail collected a season-best finish on Tuesday, placing in a tie for 14th overall to lead the Catamounts at the Gary Koch Invitational, which concluded at the par-72, 7,042-yard Gaston Country Club. The Catamounts slipped four spots in the final standings, coming home in a tie for ninth place overall.
Lail carded a team-best final round score of 1-over-par 73 to finish at even-par 216. The 54-hole score represented the career best for the Conover, N.C., native, who led WCU after the opening day with rounds of even-par 72 and 1-under-par 71.
Senior J.T. Poston fired a final-round 3-over-par 75 for a three-day total of 219, slipping 12 spots into a two-way tie for 26th. Freshman Jackson Bishop tallied his second straight round of 2-over-par 74 to come home in a five-way tie for 42nd at 224, his career-best three-round tournament.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were senior Matthew Turner in a tie for 71st overall at 233 (73-80-80) and freshman Bright Julamool in a tie for 81st (82-88-79).
Top-ranked Florida State cruised to a 10-stroke team championship over No. 13 Auburn as the Seminoles finished at 22-under-par 842, with the Tigers at 12-under 852. Kentucky finished third, 16 strokes off the pace at 858, with Charlotte (862) in fourth place, just ahead of the three-way tie for fifth between No. 46 NC State, Winthrop and Ohio State at 13-over 877.
Auburn’s Michael Johnson and Rowin Caron of Florida State finished tied atop the individual leaderboard with matching scores of 8-under-par 208. Johnson advanced two spots to finish tied for the medalist honors with a second straight round of 3-under-par 69, while Caron finished with a 1-under 71 on Tuesday.
Western Carolina returns to action April 13-14 at the 27th-annual Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational. The 54-hole event will be spread over two days at the Country Club of Spartanburg. WCU is making its fifth appearance in the tournament all-time. Led by event individual champion Andres Cuenca, the Catamounts posted a best team finish of tied for fifth in 2007. Last spring, Poston finished tied for second with an 8-under-par 208.
Chattanooga ties for seventh at Old Waverly Collegiate
WEST POINT, Miss. – The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team shot its best total of the season to tie for seventh at the Old Waverly Collegiate. Chattanooga’s 11-over-par 875 tied Kansas, three behind Memphis.
Johnston led the squad to its best 18 since the level-par 288 to open the spring at Davidson. The Mocs shot 2-over 290 behind his 3-under 69. Johnston tied for eighth with a 5-under 211 for the two days. Scott was just two back at 3-under (213) tying for 13th. The duo shot par or better all three cards. Wes Gosselin shot 224 to rank third on the squad. Kory Webb and Andrew Weathers ended up at 232.
UAB captured the team title shooting 850. That clipped the Florida Gators by one, while Ole Miss (856) came in third. Southern Miss’ Casey Fernandez shot a final-round 66 (-6) to win medalist by one over the Rebels’ Blake Morris. Fernandez ended up at 11-under.
The Mocs head to Pinehurst, N.C., and Pinehurst No. 9 on April 19-21 for the SoCon Championship.
UNCG finishes ninth at Old Waverly Collegiate
WEST POINT, Miss. – UNCG senior men’s golfer Roy Dixon notched his top finish of the 2014-15 season and his fifth career top-five finish by placing fifth at the Old Waverly Collegiate, hosted by Mississippi State. Dixon’s play helped the Spartans finish ninth overall as a team in a field that included nine teams ranked in the top 100, including the Spartans at No. 68.
The Spartans return to action this weekend as they take part in the Irish Creek Collegiate on Saturday and Sunday.
Dixon rode a stellar second-round score to his fifth place finish as he ended the 54-hole event with a 6-under-par 210 score. He opened the week with a 1-over-par 73 before carding a 7-under-par 65 in round two while finishing with an even-par 72 in the final round. His 7-under-par 65 in round two is tied for the second-lowest of his career, trailing only a 9-under-par 63 he shot last season at the USF Invitational.
Dixon’s 65 score was also the lowest single round of the event that featured 84 golfers on the par-72, 7,088-yard course. He notched 12 pars in round two while recording birdies on holes Nos. 6, 9, 13, 14 and 15. Additionally, he carded an eagle-3 on the par-5 No. 2 hole that sits at 513 yards.
His played helped the Spartans finish in ninth place overall with a 13-over-par 877 score. UNCG opened with its highest round of the weekend with an 11-over-par 299. The Spartans regrouped with a 2-under-par 286 in round two before closing out with a 4-over-par 292 in the final round. UAB won the team portion of the event with a 14-under-par 850 (285-279-286), edging out Florida by one stroke at 13-under-par 851 (289-278-284). Casey Fernandez of Southern Mississippi won the individual title with an 11-under-par 205 (71-68-66).
Junior Luke Haithcock posted his top finish of the season, as well, placing 30th overall with a 4-over-par 220. Haithcock’s 220 score for a 54-hole event marks his third-lowest score of his career, falling just short of 219 set twice as a sophomore at the VCU Shootout and Auto Trader Collegiate. He opened the week with a 4-over-par 76 before settling in with back-to-back even-par 72 scores. He used 15 birdies on the week to overcome just a handful of tough holes on the week.
Sophomore Jake McGlone finished tied for 50th overall with an 8-over-par 224. McGlone posted back-to-back 2-over-par 74 scores in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 4-over-par 76.
Freshman Josh Stockwell and junior Taylor Coalson both rounded out the lineup in a tie for 58th overall at 10-over-par 226. Stockwell posted rounds of 77-75-74, while Coalson notched rounds of 74-74-76.