Brian Quinn’s Temple Owls capped a very successful eight
days on the golf course by finishing third in the Phoenix Invitational hosted
by Elon at Alamance Country Club in Burlington, N.C., which concluded Tuesday.
The trip to the Phoenix International was a late addition to
Temple’s fall schedule and came a week after the Owls claimed the eighth
tournament victory in Quinn’s tenure as head coach with a win in the Bucknell
Invitational, which concluded Oct. 9 at the Bucknell Golf Club in Lewisburg.
Right in the middle of all this success was Trey Wren, a
senior from Suffolk, Va. who has been a consistent performer for Quinn for four
years. Wren had three straight sub-70 rounds over the 6,867-yard, par-71
Alamance layout to finish tied for second in the individual standings.
Wren had a pair of sub-70 rounds in finishing third at
Bucknell, which gives him a Temple record for sub-70 rounds with five straight.
Host Elon captured the title at its tournament behind
individual champion Will Harwood, a junior from Columbia, S.C. Harwood posted
rounds of 4-under-par 67 and 3-under 68 in Monday’s double round and then
finished up with another 3-under 68 for a 10-under 203 total.
Wren opened with a sizzling 5-under 66 and added a 2-under
69 and shared the top spot with Harwood after Monday’s double round at 7-under
135. Wren added another 69 Tuesday to finish a shot behind Harwood at 9-under
204.
Wren was joined at that figure by High Point’s Brandon
Einstein, a freshman from Clemmons, N.C. who added a pair of 4-under 67s to his
opening round of 1-under 70.
Elon started strong in Monday’s double round with a 7-under
277 and a 1-under 283 before adding another 1-under 283 in Tuesday’s final
round for a 9-under 843 total.
Ohio University started slowly with a 290, but added a pair
of 5-under 279s to just get past Temple for second at 4-under 848. Temple only
trailed Elon by a shot after the opening round as the Owls fired a 6-under 278
before struggling a little in Monday’s afternoon round with a 7-over 291. They
bounced back with a 4-under 280 in the final round for a 3-under 849 total, a
shot behind Ohio.
Radford, which finished up with a 4-under 280, and
Presbyterian College, which closed with a 3-under 281, shared fourth place,
each landing on 2-under 850.
Colonial Athletic Association rivals Drexel and Delaware
finished 11th and 13th, respectively, the Dragons
finishing up with a 1-over 285 for a 7-over 859 total and the Blue Hens closing
with a 2-under 282 that left them with a 12-over 864 total.
La Salle finished with a solid 3-under 281 Tuesday to end up
15th in the 16-team field at 27-over 879 total.
Backing up Harwood for Elon was Phillip Loeb, a senior from
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. who finished among the group tied for ninth at 2-under
211 after matching par in the final round with a 71.
Max Ferrari, a redshirt sophomore from Framingham, Mass.,
finished among the group tied for 21st at 1-over 214. Ferrari contributed a
2-under 69 to Elon’s second-round total.
Quade Lukes, a sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C., finished in
the group tied for 30th at 3-over 216 as he sandwiched a 74 with a
pair of even-par 71s. Josef Dransfeld, a freshman from Huntingdon, W.Va.,
rounded out the Elon lineup as he finished among the group tied for 56th
at 220 after a final round of 2-over 73.
Wofford’s Walker Simas, a junior from Charlotte, N.C.,
finished fourth in the individual standings, ending up two shots behind Wren
and Einstein at 7-under 206 after posting a 2-under 69 in the final round.
George Washington’s Logan Lowe, a senior from Grass Valley,
Calif., and Presbyterian’s Weston Sanders, a senior from Greenwood, S.C.,
shared fifth place, each ending up at 6-under 207. Lowe carded a final round of
3-under 68 while Sanders posted a 2-under 69 in the final round.
Backing up Wren for Temple was John Barone, a redshirt
senior from Dunmore who fired the low round of the tournament and a career best
with a sizzling 6-under 65 in the final round to end up in the group tied for
21st at 1-over 214. Barone, who was also coming off a strong showing at
Bucknell, opened with a 1-over 72 before struggling to a 77 in Monday
afternoon’s second round.
Redshirt junior Erik Reisner, a two-time Central League
champion at Harriton, is having a strong fall and opened up the Phoenix
Invitational with a 3-under 68 that contributed to the Owls’ fast start. He
added a pair of 75s to finish among the group tied for 46th at
5-over 218.
Senior Sam Soeth, Reisner’s former scholastic rival at
Marple Newtown, matched par in the final round with a 71 to finish in the group
tied for 56th at 220 and senior Gary McCabe, a former La Salle
standout out of East Norriton, rounded out the Temple lineup as he finished
among the group tied for 69th at 222. McCabe opened with a pair of
1-over 72s in Monday’s double round before finishing up with a 78.
Drexel was led by junior Connor Schmidt, a Peters Township
product who seems to be riding the momentum from his Pennsylvania Amateur
victory at Sunnehanna Golf Club in the summer. Schmidt opened with a 2-under
69, added a 2-over 72 in the second round and finished up with a 1-under 70 to
end up among the group tied for 14th at 1-under 212.
Junior Alex Butler, a St. Joseph’s Prep product, finished in
the group tied for 27th at 2-over 215, which included a 2-under 69
in Monday’s afternoon round. Jeffrey Cunningham, a sophomore from West Palm
Beach, Fla., finished in the group tied for 30th at 3-over 216,
which included a 1-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s round.
Angelo Giantsopoulos, a sophomore from Canada, flashed his
talent with a 3-under 68 in the final round that enabled him to join the group
tied for 50th at 219.
Rounding out Drexel lineup was freshman Ben Pochet, a
two-time District One Class AAA champion at Spring-Ford who finished tied for
80th at 226 after a final round of 2-over 73, his best round of the
tournament.
Leading the way for Delaware was junior Jack Melville, the
former Upper Dublin standout who also had a strong summer, including a trip to
the Pebble Beach Golf Links for the U.S. Amateur. Melville closed with a 3-under
68 to join the group tied for 14th at 1-under 212.
Robert Nieves, a freshman from Miami, Fla., ended up in the
group tied for 21st at 1-over 214 after matching par in the final
round with a 71.
Junior R.J. Wren, a former Twin Valley standout and
occasional Stonewall looper, closed with a 1-under 70 to finish among the group
tied for 50th at 6-over 219. Wren has been having a strong fall for
the Blue Hens.
Christian Chapman, a sophomore from Victor, N.Y., joined
Wren in that group tied for 50th at 219 as he finished up with a
2-over 73. Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Matt Pulgini, a freshman from
Middletown, Del. who also closed with a 2-over 73 to finish in the group tied
for 77th at 224.
La Salle was led by sophomore David Kim, a former Upper
Dublin standout who matched par in the final round with a 71 to join the group
tied for 30th at 3-over 216.
Dragon Theam, a freshman from Jacksonville, Fla. who was
coming off a record-breaking performance in taking the individual title at
Bucknell, also closed with an even-par 71 to end up in the group tied for 40th
at 4-over 217.
Ronald Fischang, a sophomore from McKinney, Texas, saved his
best for last as he closed with a sparkling 5-under 66 to finish among the
group tied for 56th at 220. Fischang’s stellar round had a lot to do
with La Salle bettering par with its team total in Tuesday’s final round.
Matt Werner, a freshman from West Linn, Ore., also had his
best round of the tournament in Tuesday’s final round, a 2-over 73 that left
him in the group tied for 85th at 230. Rounding out the La Salle
lineup was freshman Parker Wine, a Unionville product who finished alone in 89th
at 231 after a final-round 76.
At Bucknell a week earlier, Temple opened with an even-par
280 over the 6,224-yard, par-70 Bucknell Golf Club layout and matched par the
following day with a 284 to capture the team title by three shots over Wayne
State with a 4-over 564 total.
Barone opened with a 4-under 66 and added a 2-under 68 to
finish second at 6-under 134, a shot behind La Salle’s Theam, the individual champion.
Trey Wren began his still active run of five straight sub-70 rounds as he added
a 2-under 68 to his opening round of 1-under 69 to finish third in the
individual standings at 3-under 137, three shots behind his teammate Barone.
It was a spectacular showing by Theam, who added a 4-under
66 to his opening round of 3-under 67 for a 7-under 133 total to become the
first La Salle player to claim an individual title since P.J. Acierno won the
Cape Fear Invitational in March of 2016. The 133 total is a 36-hole record for
the La Salle program.
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