Nicholas helps Drexel earn a runnerup finish in The Peoples Championship at Sea Palms

 

   Drexel, getting a routinely strong showing from Drue Nicholas, earned a runnerup finish in The Peoples Championship, which was halted after two rounds last weekend at the Sea Palms Resort on St. Simons Island, Ga.

   It was the second straight tournament in which a City 6 team ran into three-time reigning Atlantic 10 champion Davidson and the second straight time the Wildcats emerged with the team title.

   The teams got in a 36-hole double round March 8 and tried to get the third round in the following day, but relentless rains forced play to be halted with the standings reverting back to the end of the previous day’s second round.

   Davidson got the jump on the field with a 10-under 274 over the 6,664-yard, par-71 Sea Palms layout and then was one better in the afternoon of the double round with an 11-under 273 for a 21-under 547 total. It was the second year in a row that Davidson won team crown in The Peoples Championship.

   Davidson had three finishers among the top five as Joshua Stewart, a junior from Winter Springs, Fla., and Will Davis, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., finished in a tie for second place, just a shot behind the individual winner, Wright State’s Shane Ochs, a sophomore from Dayton Ohio.

   Davidson’s Alex Heffner, a senior from Harrisburg, N.C., was part of a trio of players that included Drexel’s Nicholas, tied for fourth place at 5-under 137.

   Ochs had opened with a sizzling 6-under 65 before adding a 3-under 68 in the afternoon of the opening day for a 9-under 133 total.

   Stewart had opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a sparkling 6-under 65 of his own in the afternoon to finish in a tie for second place, a shot behind Ochs at 8-under 134. Davis had the same splits, adding a 6-under 65 in the afternoon to his opening-round 69 to join his teammate in the tie for second place.

   The Davidson website indicated that Davis held a one-shot lead over Stewart in the individual chase when the final round was halted.

   Heffner had opened with a 4-under 67 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon to finish at 5-under.

   The Wildcats were coming off claiming the team title in The Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C., topping a field that included Temple. Stewart got a share of second place in that event as well.

   Drexel opened with a 3-under 281 and added a 5-under 279 in the second round to earn a runnerup finish with an 8-under 560 total that left the Dragons, a Coastal Athletic Association entry, 13 shots behind Davidson.

   Nicholas, a senior from Egg Harbor Township, N.J. and a St. Augustine Prep product, added a 3-under 68 in the second round to his opening-round 69 to join Davidson’s Heffner at 5-under in a tie for fourth place.

   Xavier, a Big East representative, was another eight shots behind Drexel in third place with an even-par 568 total as the Musketeers opened with a solid 4-under 280 before adding a 4-over 288 in the opening day’s afternoon round.

   Xavier was led by Ray Filter, a freshman from Crown Point, Ind. who joined Davidson’s Heffner and Drexel’s Nicholas in the tie for fourth place at 5-under. Filter opened with a solid 4-under 68 before adding a 69 in the second round.

   Wright State, out of the Horizon League, finished a shot behind Xavier in fourth place with a 1-over 569 total. The Raiders, behind Ochs, the individual champion, matched par in the opening round with a 284 before adding a 1-over 285 in the second round.

   Western Carolina, a Southern Conference entry, and Belmont, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished a shot behind Wright State in a tie for fifth place in the 17-team field, each landing on 2-over 570.

   The Catamounts opened with a solid 4-under 280 before finishing up with a 6-over 290. The Bruins opened with a 1-under 283 before adding a 3-over 287.

   Backing up the top three for Davidson was Prince Miller, a sophomore from Atlanta, Ga. who finished among the group tied for 46^th place with a 4-over 146 total. Miller struggled a little in an opening round of 5-over 76 before adding a solid 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening day’s double round.

   Rounding out the Davidson lineup was Benjamin Newfield, a freshman from Arlington, Va. who contributed a 1-over 72 for the Wildcats in the opening round, but was forced to withdraw before the second round.

   Davis Sayman, a freshman from Charlotte, N.C., competed as an individual for Davidson and made a case for a spot in the lineup later this spring as he finished in the group tied for 37^th place with a 3-over 145 total. Sayman added a solid 1-under 70 in the second round to his opening round of 4-over 75.

   Junior Adam Lauer, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Pittsburgh’s Shady Side Academy, also competed as an individual for Davidson and finished among the group tied for 59^th place with a 6-over 148 total. Lauer added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 73.

   Central Michigan’s Philippe Yturralde, a sophomore from La Mesa, Calif., finished alone in seventh place, a shot behind the trio tied for fourth as he carded a pair of 2-under 69s for a 4-under 138 total.

   Wofford’s Matthew Larkin, a fifth-year player from Atlanta, Ga., was another shot behind Yturralde in eighth place with a 3-under 139 total as he bounced back from an opening round of 1-over 72 with a 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day’s double round.

   Caleb Taylor, a sophomore from Woodbine, Md., gave Drexel a second finisher inside the top 10 as he ended up in a tie for ninth place with the Western Carolina duo of Pablo Hernandez, a redshirt senior from Spain, and Keifer Bulau, a junior from Canada, each landing on 2-under 140.

   Taylor was the low Dragon in the opening round with a solid 3-under 68 before adding a 1-over 72 in the afternoon.

   Hernandez bounced back from an opening round of 1-over 72 with a solid 3-under 68 in the second round. Bulau matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day’s double round.

   Backing up Nicholas and Taylor for Drexel was Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a senior from Zimbabwe who finished among the group tied for 12^th place with a 1-under 141 total. Nyamukondiwa matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-under 70.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup were Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Griffin Mitchell, a senior from New Albany, Ohio, both of whom finished in the group tied for 29^th place at 2-over 144. Maxfield and Mitchell each opened with a 3-over 74 before adding a 1-under 70 in the second round.

   Drexel graduate student Liam Hart, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep, competed as an individual at Sea Palms and finished in the group tied for 85^th place with a 10-over 152 total. Hart added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 77.