FARMVILLE, Va. – Western Carolina seniors Jackson Bishop and Dylan MacQueen both finished regulation among a three-way tie atop the individual leaderboard on Saturday afternoon at The Manor Intercollegiate, forcing a playoff to determine the individual medalist. On the second hole of overtime, Brandon Weaver of Longwood outlasted the Catamount duo to take the top prize at the par-72, 7,246-yard The Manor Golf Club.
Riding the performance of its senior duo, the Catamounts came home with a season-best third-place finish in the 13-team field. It was the team’s fourth top-10 finish of the year and the first top-five showing for the squad.
Leading after 36 holes on the strength of a second-round 4-under-par 68 on Friday, Bishop fired a 5-over-par round of 77 on Saturday that allowed both Weaver and his teammate MacQueen to catch him to force the three-way tie at 2-over-par 218. Weaver moved into the first-place tie from the runner-up spot after 36 holes, while MacQueen climbed from a sixth-place tie with the second-best round of the day on a 1-under-par 71.
MacQueen overcame a double-bogey on the par-4 ninth that relegated him to 2-over with three birdies on the back nine for the 1-under round. Bishop countered a double-bogey and five bogeys on Saturday with a pair of birdies in his final round.
Tied after 54 holes, the three-way playoff was extended as Weaver was able to two-putt from 35 feet out on the first playoff hole to push the playoff to a second hole. The Longwood golfer was able to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker to ultimately clinch the win.
Bishop and MacQueen were two of three Catamounts to post top-15 finishes as senior Bright Julamool came home with a 14th-place showing – his best of the season. The product of Bangkok, Thailand, slipped three spots in the overall standings on the final day, finishing off his tournament with a final-round score of 6-over-par 78. Julamool posted a three-day total of 11-over 227.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were junior George Whitbread in a tie for 38th overall and freshman Michael Coe in a tie for 41st overall. Whitbread finished with a three-round score of 237, closing the tournament with his best round of 5-over-par 77, while Coe finished with a score of 240.
Playing unattached as an individual, freshman Chandler Metz advanced two spots on the final day of competition, placing tied for 54th with a score of 245. He closed his tournament with his tournament-best round of 79 on Saturday.
Tournament-host Longwood led start-to-finish, edging runner-up Delaware by three strokes, 893-to-896, to claim the team championship. WCU finished third, seven strokes off the pace at 900, with IUPUI (914) and Wright State (918) rounding out the top five.
Western Carolina returns to action April 9-10 in its penultimate tournament of the regular season as the Catamounts take part in the Gary Koch Invitational, co-hosted by SEC-foes Auburn and Kentucky at the Gaston Country Club in Gastonia, N.C.