Hall leads South Carolina to team title in The Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate; Temple finishes 13th

    With three players among the top four finishers, including individual champion Ryan Hall, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., South Carolina rolled to a 10-shot victory in The Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C.

   The Gamecocks took control right from the start as they opened with a 5-under-par 275 over the 6,617-yard, par-70 Palmetto Golf Club layout. They added a 2-over 282 in the second round of Monday’s double round before closing with another solid 5-under 275 in Tuesday’s final round for an 8-under 832 total.

   Temple struggled a little in its second start of the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season, finishing in 13^th place in the 15-team field with a 45-over 885 total, although junior Conor McGrath, winner of last summer’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Cedarbrook Country Club, continued his strong season by finishing in a tie for 20^th place with a 5-over 215 total.

   South Carolina was the only team to finish under par and the victory enabled the Gamecocks to move up from No. 43 to No. 38 in the latest Golfstat rankings.

   South Carolina earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference Championship last spring at the Sea Island Club’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Ga. The Gamecocks, seeded ninth in the NCAA’s Albuquerque Regional, made a run at a spot in the NCAA Championship, but came up short.

   Hall, however, captured the individual title at the Championship Course of the University of New Mexico and moved on to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. and the NCAA Championship as an individual.

   Hall sparked South Carolina’s strong start as he opened with a sizzling 6-under 64. He added a pair of 2-under 68s in the final two rounds as he cruised to a five-shot victory with a 10-under 200 total.

   Hall’s teammate, junior Jack Wall, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall playing out of Manasquan River Country Club, closed with a sparkling 5-under 65 to earn runnerup honors, five shots behind his teammate Hall with a 5-under 205 total.

   A Christian Brothers Academy product, Wall had matched par in each of Monday’s two rounds with a pair of 70s. Wall’s older brother Jeremy won his second straight Philadelphia Amateur crown that week at Stonewall in 2019.

   No. 47 Virginia, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished strong with a 5-under 275 to earn runnerup honors with a 2-over 842 total that left the Cavaliers 10 shots behind South Carolina. Virginia had struggled to a 287 in the opening round before matching par with a 280 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Virginia Commonwealth out of the Atlantic Ten Conference was another 10 shots behind Virginia in third place with a 12-over 852 total. The Rams added a 283 in Monday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 287 before closing with a 12-over 852.

   Host South Carolina Aiken, a Division II power, finished four shots behind VCU with a 16-over 856 total. After opening with a 289, the Pacers added a 285 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 12-over 282.

   Another ACC entry, No. 63 Virginia Tech, matched par in the final round with a 280 to finish seven shots behind South Carolina Aiken in fifth place with a 23-over 863 total. The Hokies struggled in Monday’s double round, adding a 291 in the afternoon to their opening-round 292.

   Wofford, out of the Southern Conference, was a shot behind Virginia Tech in sixth place with a 24-over 864 total. The Terriers opened with a solid 5-over 285 and added a 288 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 291.

   Temple, out of the American Athletic Conference, bounced back from an opening-round 293 with a 7-over 287 in Monday afternoon’s second round. The Owls couldn’t build on that solid second round as they closed with a 295 to end up in 13^th place.

   Rafe Reynolds, a sophomore from Greenville, S.C., gave South Carolina a third finisher among the top four as he joined a trio of players tied for fourth place at even-par 280. After matching par with a 70 in the opening round, Reynolds added a 2-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a solid 2-under 68.

   Evans Lewis, a senior from Sumter, S.C., finished among the group tied for 27^th place with an 8-over 218 total for the Gamecocks. Lewis added a 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 71 before cooling off in the final round with a 75.

   Rounding out the South Carolina lineup was Nathan Franks, a freshman from Roebuck, S.C. who finished in the group tied for 41^st place with an 11-over 221 total. After opening with a 75, Franks added a 2-over 72 in Monday’s second round before closing with a counting 74.

   Zack Byers of Gardner-Webb finished four shots behind South Carolina’s Wall in third place with a 1-under 209 total as he registered a pair of 1-under 69s in Monday’s double round before closing with a 71.

   Joining South Carolina’s Reynolds in the trio tied for fourth place at even-par 280 were a pair of Virginia players, George Duangmanee, a sophomore from Fairfax, Va., and Sam Jung, a senior from Centreville, Va. Duangmanee added a 1-over 71 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 72 before contributing a 3-under 67 to Virginia’s final-round surge. Jung had a pair of 1-over 71s in Monday’s double round before closing with a solid 2-under 68.

   A pair of VCU players, Mikkel Antonsen, a sophomore from Norway, and Adrian Vagberg, a sophomore from Sweden, were part of a trio tied for seventh place, each landing on 1-over 211.

   After opening with a 74, Antonsen got it going with a 2-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round and a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s final round. Vagberg got off to a solid start with a 1-under 69, matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 70 and finished up with a 72.

   Rounding out the trio at 1-over was Samford’s Davis Woodliff, a sophomore from Tulsa, Okla. Woodliff sandwiched a 1-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 71s.

   Pietro Bovari, a junior from Italy, gave Virginia a third finisher among the top 10 as he headed a group of four players tied for 10^th place at 2-over 212. Bovari struggled in the opening round with a 75, but surged up the leaderboard with back-to-back 2-under 68s in the final two rounds.

   South Carolina Aiken had a pair of players at 2-over, including Leo Bono, a junior from Switzerland, and Oscar Abrahamsson, a sophomore from Sweden. Bono got off to a good start with a 1-under 69 in the opening round and added a 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71. Abrahamsson sandwiched a 2-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 72s.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for 10^th place was Wofford’s Harry Jones, a sophomore from Augusta, Ga. who added back-to-back 72s in the final two rounds to the solid 2-under 68 he recorded in the opening round.

   McGrath, an Academy of the New Church graduate and a product of the Huntingdon Valley Country Club junior program, matched par in the opening round with a 70 and added a 2-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 73 that left him in a tie for 20^th place at 5-over.

   Backing up McGrath for Temple was senior Dawson Anders, a Souderton product and winner of the 2017 Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship. Anders sandwiched a 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 71s as he finished in a tie for 25^th place with a 7-over 217 total.

   Anders was the top finisher for head coach Brian Quinn’s Temple team in The American Championship last spring as he finished in a tie for 26^th place at Southern Hills Golf Club in Brookville, Fla. to help the Owls earn an eighth-place finish in the tough AAC.

   Junior Buddy Hansen, who starred scholastically with Catholic League power La Salle, finished among the group tied for 64^th place with a 228 total. After opening with a 78, Hansen, a product of the junior program at Blue Bell Country Club, got a little better each round, adding a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second before closing with a 6-over 76.

   Ethan Whitney, a freshman from Westminster, Mass. who got his college career off to a nice start last fall, opened with a 4-over 74 at Palmetto, struggled to an 80 in Monday afternoon’s second round and finished up with a 77 as he ended up in 69^th place with a 231 total.

   Graham Chase, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., struggled in the opening round with an 81, added a solid 4-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round and closed with a 77 as he finished a shot behind Whitney in 70^th place with a 232 total.