A young Temple team finishes 11th at River Run Collegiate as James Madison dominates

   Temple head coach Brian Quinn bid farewell to a tight senior class after it wrapped up a productive run by leading the Owls to a fifth-place finish in The American Championship last spring.

   Trey Wren, John Barone, Gary McCabe, Erik Reisner and Sam Soeth formed the nucleus of a group that certainly had its moments, including a memorable City 6 team title on an epically cold and windy day at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore last November.

   Conor McGrath, an Academy of the New Church product, was the only underclassman to make the trip to the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. as he wrapped up his freshman season.

   McGrath, the younger of two McGrath brothers on the Temple roster, led the way this week as he finished in a tie for 25^th place as the Owls finished in 11^th place in a 15-team field in the River Run Collegiate hosted by Davidson at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C. The Owls ended up with a 40-over 904 total.

   Temple had opened its season the weekend of Sept. 14 and 15 with a ninth-place finish in the Cornell Invitational at 32-over 884 with junior Dawson Anders, who starred scholastically at Souderton, leading the way by finishing in a tie for 14^th place. Anders, winner of the 2017 Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship, is the only other Temple player with any significant experience.

   Temple is going to take its lumps in the 2019-2020 wraparound season, but Quinn has some talent. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

   Conor McGrath opened with a 1-over-par 73 over the 7,317-yard, par-72 River Run layout before adding a 2-over 74 in the wrapup of Monday’s double round. He closed with a 3-over 75 for a 7-over 223 total.

   Graham Chase, a freshman from Charlotte, N.C., also opened with a 73 before adding rounds of 75 and 79 to land in the group tied for 39^th place at 227. Anders, who earned a trip to the U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club this summer, had the best round of the two days for Temple with a 2-under 70 in the opening round before adding a 77 and struggling to an 82 in Tuesday’s final round for a 229 total  that left him in the group tied for 50^th place.

   Liam McGrath, a senior and the older of the McGrath brothers, finished in the group tied for 55^th with his best round of the tournament, a 2-over 74, in Tuesday’s final round. Like his younger brother, Liam McGrath is an Academy of the New Church product and both he and Conor are products of the junior program at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   Rounding out the starting lineup at River Run for Temple was Danny Nguyen, a freshman from Vietnam who posted three straight 79s to end up among the group tied for 74^th at 237. Quinn went with the same starting five for both of Temple’s first two tournaments.

   Sophomore Anthony Barr, like Anders a Souderton product, competed as an individual and struggled, finishing in the group tied for 81^st at 242 after closing with an 81. Barr had a strong summer on the GAP junior circuit in 2018, earning medalist honors in qualifying for the Junior Boys’ Championship on his home course at Blue Bell Country Club.

   Quinn took along sophomore Buddy Hansen, who starred scholastically at La Salle, and Aaron Tobin, a senior from Tampa, Fla., to compete as individuals at Cornell. Hansen finished in the group tied for 81^st and Tobin landed in the group tied for 76^th.

   James Madison, which finished third in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship last spring, was an impressive winner of the River Run Collegiate.

   Behind individual champion Walker Cress, a senior from Concord, N.C., the Dukes rolled to a 22-shot victory over Charlotte. James Madison opened with round of 6-under 282 and 7-under 281 in Monday’s double round before closing with a 2-under 286 for a 15-under 849 total.

   Charlotte ripped off the best team round of the tournament, a 9-under 279, in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 7-over 295. The 49ers closed with a 9-over 297 to take runnerup honors at 7-over 871.

   Host Davidson was another seven shots behind Charlotte in third place at 14-over 878 after closing with a 6-over 294. Furman sandwiched a 295 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 294s to finish five shots behind Davidson in fourth place at 19-over 883.

   Wright State struggled in the final round with a 301 to finish a shot behind Furman in fifth place at 20-over 884.

   James Madison’s Cress carded a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s final round to overtake Charlotte’s Trey Tobias, a junior from Franklin, Tenn. for the individual crown. Cress creeped within three shots of Tobias with a 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round before rolling by Tobias with his closing 69.

   The Dukes had three players among the top five as Nacho Montero, a junior from Spain, finished in fourth place at 3-under 213 and George Heath, a sophomore from England, finished in a tie for fifth place at 1-under 215.

   Montero sparked James Madison in the second round with a 5-under 67 before closing with a 1-over 73. Heath opened with a 5-under 67 and struggled to a 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Freshman Neal Shipley, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s PIAA Class AAA championship team last fall, bounced back from an opening-round 80 with 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 73 to finish in the group tied for 21^st at 222.

   Rounding out the James Madison lineup was Nick Schlickenrieder, a sophomore from Switzerland who finished among the group tied for 39^th place at 227. Schlickenrider’s opening-round 72 was a counter for the Dukes and he closed with a 3-over 75.

   Charlotte’s Tobias had grabbed the individual lead with rounds of 4-under 68 and 5-under 67 in Monday’s double round, but backed off in the final round with a 75 for a 6-under 210 that earned him runnerup honors, three shots behind Cress.

   Host Davidson’s Alex Ross, a junior from Atlanta, was another two shots behind Tobias in third place at 4-under 212. Ross followed up an opening-round 70 with a pair of 1-under 71s.

   Joining James Madison’s Heath in the tie for fifth at 1-under 215 was fellow Englishman John Gough, a senior at Charlotte. Gough fired a 3-under 69 in the second round before closing with a 74.

   Two Charlotte players, Dongjin Park, a freshman from South Korea, and Ben Woodruff, a sophomore from Huntersville, N.C., were among four players tied for seventh place at even-par 216. Park closed with a solid 3-under 69 while Woodruff, after a pair of 1-under 71s, finished up with a 2-over 74.

   Joining Park and Woodruff at 216 were Cleveland State’s Zach Robbins, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Mich., and Richmond’s Lou Baker, a freshman from Timonium, Md.

   Robbins opened with a 2-under 70 and matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 2-over 74. Baker was a 4-under after a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-over 76.