Villanova ends long victory drought by taking Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate title with remarkable final-round surge

   Villanova could have been forgiven if it just went through the motions for Tuesday’s final round of the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club’s Gold Course in Williamsburg, Va.

   It’s been four years since the Wildcats last won a tournament team title at the Explorer Invitational in April of 2019 at LuLu Country Club. Following Monday’s double round, Villanova was sitting in eighth place, 11 shots behind front-running Farleigh Dickinson.

   There was one other major complication. Villanova’s five-man starting lineup was reduced to four when Jonathan Elkins, a junior from South Deerfield, Mass., was knocked out at some point in Monday’s double round.

   Probably injury or illness, but with just four guys in the lineup, there was no margin for error for Villanova. Didn’t look like the Wildcats’ long tournament victory drought was going to end this week.

   But it’s golf and in golf funny things happen pretty regularly. So, take your hats off to the 2023 Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate team champion Villanova Wildcats.

   Jason Lohwater, a graduate student from Rochester, N.Y. who was a four-year standout at Bucknell, carded a 3-under 68 over the 6,817-yard, par-71 Gold Course layout at Golden Horseshoe in Tuesday’s final round. Peter Weaver, a junior from Frontenac, Mo., added a 1-under 70. Ryan Pamer, a freshman from Hudson, Ohio who has been Villanova’s best player throughout the wraparound 2022-2023 season, posted a 1-over 72. And Josh Lavely, a junior from Kewadin, Mich., grinded out a 5-over 76.

   It added up to a 2-over 286, easily the best team round of the day, that gave Villanova, which plays out of the Big East Conference, a 16-over 868 total. Not only had Villanova overtaken Farleigh Dickinson, but the other six teams that had stood between the Wildcats and the top of the leaderboard when the day began.

   Villanova, which was coming off a 13^th-place finish in the Ross Collegiate Classic earlier in March at the Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., had opened with a solid 5-over 289 before adding a 9-over 293 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   The Wildcats’ 868 total left them two shots clear of the Atlantic 10’s George Washington as the Colonials had opened with a 2-over 286 and added a 9-over 293 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 7-over 291 that left them with an 18-over 870 total. George Washington was the highest-ranked team among the contenders at No. 144 in the latest Golfstat rankings.

   It was another two shots back to the Ivy League’s Princeton, which finished in third place with a 20-over 872 total. The Tigers, the only other top-200 team among the contenders at No. 198, opened with a solid 4-over 288 and added a 6-over 290 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 10-over 294.

   Navy, out of the Patriot League, and Longwood, out of the Big South Conference, were each a shot behind Princeton in a tie for fourth place at 21-over 873.

   After opening with an 11-over 295, the Midshipmen had the only team round under par in the tournament, a 3-under 281, in Monday afternoon’s second round that left them just three shots behind Farleigh Dickinson in second place going into Tuesday’s final round. Navy struggled in the final round, however, with a 13-over 297.

   Navy was led by individual champion Chip Deegan, a freshman from Newport Beach, Calif. who finished three shots clear of the field with a 6-under 207 total. After opening with a 1-over 72, Deegan contributed a sparkling 6-under 65, matching the best individual round of the tournament, to Navy’s second-round surge. Deegan finished up with a 1-under 70.

   Longwood registered a pair of 5-over 289s in Monday’s double round before falling back with an 11-over 295 in the final round.

   It was another two shots back to Towson, out of the Colonial Athletic Association, in sixth place with a 23-over 875 total. The Tigers had opened with a solid 3-over 287 and added a 9-over 293 in Monday’s second round before closing with an 11-over 295.

   Farleigh Dickinson, out of the Northeast Conference, had grabbed the lead going into the final round after adding a 1-over 285 in Monday afternoon’s second round to its opening round of 4-over 288. The Knights struggled to a 304 in Tuesday’s final round and fell all the way back to seventh place with a 25-over 877 total, two shots behind Towson.

   Half of the City 6 teams were in the field as Penn, out of the Ivy League, was playing for the first time this spring and Saint Joseph’s, another A-10 entry, joined Villanova in the field in Williamsburg.

   The Quakers finished in 10^th place with a 37-over 889 total as they opened with a 6-over 290 and added an 11-over 295 in Monday afternoon’s second round before struggling to a 304 in the final round.

   The Hawks struggled, adding a 308 in Monday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 306 before closing with a 300 as they finished last of 13 teams. St. Joe’s had finished a spot ahead of Villanova in 12^th place in the Ross Collegiate Classic at Mid Pines earlier in the month.

   Pamer was Villanova’s highest finisher in the individual standings as he opened with a sparkling 5-under 66 and added a 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round before his closing 72 left him alone in fourth place with a 1-under 212 total.

   Weaver finished among a trio of players tied for seventh place as he opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round before his closing 70 gave him a 1-over 214 total.

   Lohwater gave Villanova a third finisher inside the top 10 as his critical final-round 68 left him in a tie for 10^th place with a 2-over 215 total. Lohwater had opened with a 3-over 74 before adding a 2-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Lavely rounded out Villanova’s fabulous foursome, his final-round 76 leaving him in the group tied for 45^th place with a 14-over 227 total. Lavely opened with an 8-over 79 before carding a solid 1-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Vimal Alokam, a sophomore from Ypsilanti, Mich., competed as an individual for Villanova and finished in the group tied for 60^th place with a 232 total. Alokam added a solid 1-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 7-over 78, but struggled to an 82 in the final round.

   Farleigh Dickinson accounted for the next two spots in the individual standings behind Navy’s Deegan, the individual champion, as Pyae Phyo Thu, a sophomore from Myanmar, took second place and Jaime Jolve, a graduate student from Spain, finished third.

   Phyo Thu sandwiched a 3-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 71s to earn runnerup honors, three shots behind Deegan, with a 3-under 210 total.

   Julve opened with a 2-under 69 and added a 1-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-under 70 to finish a shot behind Phyo Thu with a 2-under 211 total.

   George Washington’s Rodrigo Barahona, a freshman from Mexico, and William & Mary’s Logan Hunter, a sophomore from Tampa, Fla., finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on even-par 213, a shot behind Villanova’s Pamer.

   Barahona sandwiched a 4-over 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of solid 2-under 69s. Hunter got it going in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 4-under 67, which he sandwiched with a pair of 2-over 73s in the first and final rounds.

   Joining Villanova’s Weaver in the trio tied for seventh place at 1-over 214 were Hunter’s William & Mary teammate, Trevor Binau, a senior from Columbus, Ohio, and Lafayette’s Ray Dennehy, a sophomore from Princeton, Mass.

   After struggling to a 7-over 78 in the opening round, Binau matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 71 before matching the low round of the tournament with a sparkling 6-under 65 in the final round. Dennehy got off to a fast start with a 4-under 67 in the opening round, but struggled in the second round with a 5-over 76 before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Leon Heitz, a sophomore from Germany, gave Farleigh Dickinson a third top-10 finisher as he joined Villanova’s Lohwater in the tie for 10^th place at 2-over 215. Heitz was solid in Monday’s double round, matching par in the afternoon with a 71 after opening with a 2-under 69, before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Leading the way for Penn was George Roessler, a sophomore from North Palm Beach, Fla. who finished in the group tied for 28^th place with an 8-over 221 total as he added a 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 72 before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Ben Scott, a sophomore from Manhattan Beach, Fla., finished a shot behind Roessler in the group tied for 32^nd place with a 9-over 222 total. Scott opened with a 6-over 77 and added a 4-over 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a solid 1-under 70.

   John Richardson, a sophomore from England, finished a shot behind Scott for the Quakers as he landed in the group tied for 35^th place with a 10-over 223 total. Richardson opened with best round of the week for any Quaker, a 2-under 69, and matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 71 before struggling to an 83 in the final round.

   Mark Haghani, Penn’s veteran senior from Wilson, Wyo., finished in the group tied for 49^th place with a 228 total as he opened with a 2-over 73 and struggled to a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Haghani finished in a tie for second place in last spring’s Ivy League Championship at Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y.

   Rounding out the Penn lineup was Anthony Basilio, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn. who finished alone in 69^th place with a 235 total as he added a 4-over 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 76 before struggling to an 84 in the final round.

   The Quakers brought along three players to Williamsburg to compete as individuals and two of them, Jimin Jung, a junior from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and Andy Fan, a senior from Scarsdale, N.Y., finished in the group tied for 45^th place at 14-over 227.

   After opening with a 7-over 78, Jung added a 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 4-over 75. After struggling in the opening round with an 80, Fan carded a solid 1-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Rounding out the Penn contingent was Harrison Ornstein, a senior from Naples, Fla. who finished in a tie for 70^th place with a 236 total as he added a solid 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 79 before struggling in the final round with an 83.

   Leading the way for St. Joe’s was freshman Matt Zerfass, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus who posted back-to-back 1-over 72s in the final two rounds to finish in the group tied for 16^th place with a 4-over 217 total. Zerfass had opened with a 2-over 73.

   Graduate student J.T. Spina, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Pope John Paul II, finished among the group tied for 60^th place with a 232 total as he struggled in Monday’s double round, adding a 7-over 78 in the afternoon to his opening-round 80 before closing with a 3-over 74.

   Another Hawk freshman, Christian Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Wissahickon, finished in a tie for 70^th place with Penn’s Basilio at 236. Matt added a 6-over 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 78 before closing with an 81.

   Junior Kevin Smith, who led Strath Haven to Central League and District One Class AAA titles as a senior in 2019, finished in a tie for 74^th place with a 239 total. Smith opened with a 4-over 75, but struggled after that, adding an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with an 83.

   Rounding out the Saint Joseph’s lineup was Ryan Gorman, a junior from Greenville, S.C. who finished in a tie for 76^th place with a 241 total as opened with an 80 and struggled to an 88 in Monday afternoon’s second round before bouncing back with a solid 2-over 73 in the final round.

   Sophomore Thomas Larkin, a scholastic standout at Cardinal O’Hara, competed as an individual for the Hawks and finished in the group tied for 63^rd place with a 233 total. Larkin added a 3-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 76 before closing with an 83.

   A familiar named popped up in the Navy lineup as freshman Jack Tarzy, a Medford, N.J. native who frequently appeared on Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards, finished among the group tied for 23^rd place with a 6-over 219 total.

   Tarzy, a product of The Hun School of Princeton, matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 71 after opening with a 2-over 73 before closing with a 4-over 75.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sinz, Schofill have Auburn rolling at the right time as Tigers capture team crown in Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic

   There are some really powerful teams with designs on a national championship in women’s college golf this spring. Auburn is one of those teams.

   The Tigers, out of the Southeastern Conference, have the talent and experience to make noise when the postseason gets revved up next month. They proved it again over the weekend when they finished 11 shots clear of a really strong field gathered for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic hosted by SEC rival Georgia at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

   Originally scheduled to be a 54-hole event, the Liz Murphey was shortened to 36 holes when a spring weather system brought downpours that forced the cancellation of Sunday’s final round.

   It was the 51^st edition of the Liz Murphey, making it one of the oldest women’s golf tournaments in college golf, in college sports, period, for that matter. It celebrates the woman who started it in 1973, a year after Title IX changed the landscape of women’s sports in this country forever. Murphey was the Georgia women’s golf coach when the first Georgia Invitational was played.

   Today it is named for the woman who was a trailblazer not just at Georgia, which is the envy of women’s sports programs everywhere, but throughout the country.

   For several competitors in the Liz Murphey, the event provided the perfect tuneup for the Augusta National Women’s Championship, the first  round of which will be completed at Champions Retreat Golf Club up the road in Augusta by the time this gets posted. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship has quickly become one of the premier events in women’s amateur golf. Somewhere, Liz Murphey is smiling.

   Auburn came to Athens at No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings and maintained that ranking with its victory. Behind individual champion Elina Sinz, a junior from Katy, Texas, and Megan Schofill, a senior from Monticello, Fla. and No. 38 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who finished in a tie for third place individually, the Tigers got the jump on the field with a sparkling 11-under 277 over the 6,351-yard, par-72 UGA Golf Course layout in Friday’s opening round.

   Auburn, understanding that the weather forecast for Sunday didn’t look good, added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round for a 13-under 563 total to claim its second tournament win of the wraparound 2022-2023 season.

   Sinz opened with a 3-under 69 and added 2-under 70 to earn her first collegiate victory with a 5-under 139 total. Schofill added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 2-under 70 for a 3-under 141 total.

   Sinz and Schofill were both in the lineup when Auburn gave eventual champion Stanford all it wanted before the Tigers fell, 3-2, in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring.

   It wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see Auburn in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk again in May.

   No. 4 South Carolina, another SEC power, claimed runnerup honors with a 2-under 574 total. The Gamecocks struggled a little in the opening round with a 2-over 290 before bouncing back with the best team round of the day in Saturday’s second round, a 4-under 284.

   The Gamecocks were led by Louise Rydqvist, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 70 in the Women’s WAGR who finished a shot behind Sinz in second place in the individual chase with a 4-under 140 total.

   Rydqvist, the runnerup to UCF’s Jess Baker in The Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at England’s Hunstanton Golf Club, matched Sinz’s opening round of 3-under 69 before adding a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round.

   South Carolina advanced to Grayhawk as the top seed in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional a year ago, but never got it  going in the NCAA Championship.

   No. 21 Florida gave the SEC a sweep of the first three spots in the team standings in the Liz Murphey as the Gators finished seven shots behind South Carolina in third place with a 5-over 281 total. Florida matched par in the opening round with a 288 before adding a 5-over 293 in Saturday’s second round.

   The Gators failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a two seed at the Albuquerque Regional last spring.

   No. 54 Purdue, a perennial Big Ten power, and North Carolina, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished in a tie for fourth place, two shots behind Florida at 7-over 583.

   Purdue struggled in the opening round with a 10-over 298 before bouncing back with a solid 3-under 285 in Saturday’s second round. The Boilermakers had to get past Big Ten rival Northwestern in a playoff to advance to the NCAA Championship out of the Stanford Regional as an eight seed last spring.

   After opening with a 7-over 295, North Carolina matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 288. The  Tar Heels moved up three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 52 to No. 49 in the aftermath of the Liz Murphey.

   Host Georgia, ranked 29^th, and a couple of other ACC entries, No. 19 Virginia and Louisville, finished in a tie for sixth place in the 15-team field, each landing on 10-over 586.

   The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Championship as a five seed out of the Albuquerque Regional last spring. Only one other SEC team joined Auburn in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk and that was Georgia, which, like Auburn, gave Stanford a fight before falling, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

   Everybody wants to win a national title, but it says here if you’re one of the eight teams still standing in the match-play bracket at the NCAA Championship, you had a great season.

   Georgia added a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round to its opening-round 294 on its home course.

   Virginia, which advanced to the NCAA Championship as a two seed in the Ann Arbor Regional last spring, opened with a solid 1-over 289 before struggling a little in Saturday’s second round with a 9-over 297.

   Louisville, which failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a seven seed in the Albuquerque Regional last spring, added a 3-over 291 in Saturday’s second round to its opening round of 7-over 295. The Cardinals moved up a spot from No. 67 to No. 66 in the Golfstat rankings off their showing in the Liz Murphey.

   Katie Cranston, a freshman from Canada, gave Auburn a third finisher in the top five as she was part of a group of four players tied for fifth place at 2-under 142. Cranston had a share of the lead following her opening round of 3-under 69 before adding a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round.

   Casey Weidenfeld, a redshirt freshman from Pembroke Pines, Fla., gave Auburn four players under par in the opening round as she joined her teammates Sinz and Cranston as well as South Carolina’s Rydqvist at the top of the leaderboard with a 3-under 69. Weidenfeld backed off a little in Saturday’s second round with a 4-over 76, but finished in the group tied for 14^th place with a 1-over 145 total.

   Rounding out the Auburn lineup was Anna Foster, a junior from Ireland and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in the group tied for 22^nd place with a 3-over 147 total. After opening with a 3-over 75, Foster matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72.

   Foster was in the Tigers’ lineup, along with Sinz and Schofill, in their semifinal loss to Stanford in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk a year ago.

   Joining Schofill in the tie for third place at 3-under 141 was Florida’s Maisse Filler, a junior from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR. Filler added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 1-under 71.

   Joining Auburn’s Cranston in the quartet tied for fifth place at 2-under 142 were Georgia’s Jenny Bae, a fifth-year player from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 28 in the Women’s WAGR, Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, a sophomore from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, and Purdue’s Momo Sugiyama, a sophomore from Australia.

   Bae opened with a two-under 70 before matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 72. Sambach carded a pair of 1-under 71s. After opening with a 1-over 73, Sugiyama matched the low round of Saturday’s second round with a 3-under 69.

   A little breaking news as I wrap up this post: Bae carded a sparkling 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s opening round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship at Champions Retreat and is alone in third place, three shots behind Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang, the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR.

   North Carolina’s Megan Streicher, a freshman from South Africa, finished alone in ninth place in the Liz Murphey as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round for a 1-under 143 total.

   Streicher’s fellow Tar Heel, Crista Izuzguiza, a junior from Spain, was part of a group of four players tied for 10^th place at even-par 144 that included South Carolina’s Hannah Darling, a sophomore from Scotland and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, Texas A&M’s Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a junior from Spain, and College of Charleston’s Emma Schmipf, a sophomore from Daniel Island, S.C.’

   The two Spaniards, Izuzguiza and Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, had the same splits, each matching the low round of Saturday’s second round with a 3-under 69 after opening with a 3-over 75. Darling added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 73. After opening with a 2-over 74, Schimpf recorded a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round.

   Virginia got a strong showing from junior Jennifer Cleary, who starred scholastically at Tower Hill School. Cleary matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round to finish among the group tied for 14^th placed with a 1-over 145 total.

   Cleary and Duke junior Phoebe Brinker, a scholastic rival of Cleary’s at Archmere Academy and the reigning ACC individual champion, represented Wilmington, Del. and Wilmington Country Club in the field for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship Wednesday at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

   Cleary opened with a 5-over 77 at Champions Retreat Wednesday while Brinker struggled to a 7-over 79.

   In addition to Bae’s 3-under 69 at Champions Retreat Wednesday, the scores for the other top-10 finishers in the Liz Murphey in the opening round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship included 2-over 74s for Virginia’s Sambach and South Carolina’s Darling and 3-over 75s for Auburn’s Schofill and Florida’s Filler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ropietski heats up on back nine at Honeybrook to claim a Junior Tour victory

   Cael Ropietski, the Lake Lehman junior who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship at Penn State’s Blue Course last fall, matched par with a 65 to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division Sunday at Honeybrook Golf Club near Chester County’s western border in Honey Brook Township.

   Some miserable March weather has kept a lot of the Philly Junior Tour players on the sidelines, but sunny skies and temperatures approaching 60 brought out a big field, particularly among the guys. It was a little breezy, but compared to some of the early stops on the Philly Junior Tour, it was a fantastic day for golf.

   Honeybrook normally plays to a par 70, but it looks like the par-5 fourth hole was unplayable, so players just skipped that hole and played 17 holes to a par of 65.

   Cael Ropietski, who helped Lake Lehman capture the PIAA Class AA team championship last fall, packed four birdies into the final seven holes at Honeybrook as he had birdies at the 12^th, 14^th, 17^th and 18^th holes to go along with nine pars on his scorecard.

   Cael Ropietski teed it up in the big leagues of junior golf last summer when he earned a trip to the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort on the rugged coastline of Oregon.

   Strath Haven senior Tyler Debusschere and Avon Grove junior Tyler Sikorski shared runnerup honors as they each carded a 5-over 70 to finish five shots behind Cael Ropietski.

   Debusschere, whose third-place finish in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course earned him a trip to the PIAA Championship at Penn State last fall, made birdies at the second, eighth and 14^th holes and had six pars on his card.

   Sikorski made birdies at the seventh and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his card, six of them on the front side at Honeybrook. Sikorski made the turn in even-par 30 for the eight holes that made up the front for Sunday’s tournament.

   Cael Ropietski’s older brother Eli, a senior at Lake Lehman, headed a group of four players tied for fourth place at 7-over 72. Eli Ropietski finished in eighth place in the PIAA Class AA individual chase at Penn State’s Blue Course and also was part of Lake Lehman’s run to the state Class AA team crown.

   A couple of Debusschere’s Central League rivals, Radnor junior Shaun Mazzalupi and Conestoga junior Sachin Blake, rounded out the trio tied for fourth place at 7-over.

   Mazzalupi, who reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship for the second straight season last fall, was coming off a tie for second place in some of that miserable March weather in a Philly Junior Tour stop reduced to nine holes Saturday at the Olde Homestead Golf Club.

   West Chester Rustin sophomore Nick Linkchorst, Charlie Ferrise, a junior on Spring-Ford’s Pioneer Athletic Conference championship team last fall, and Caleb Bennett of Pitman, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 9-over 74.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Winston Thai of York as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 75.

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. matched the scorecard on the incoming nine at Honeybrook with nine straight pars as he finished at the top of a big and competitive field in the 13-to-15 division with a solid 4-over 69. Joiner ended up with 14 pars overall on his scorecard in his steady round.

   Colby Komancheck of Royersford made a birdie on the 11^th hole and an eagle 2 on the par-4 14^th hole as he earned runnerup honors with a 5-under 70, a shot behind Joiner. Komancheck also had nine pars on his card.

   Michael Liu of Garnet Valley and Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished a shot behind Komancheck in a tie for third place, each landing 6-over 71. Liu had a steady round with 11 pars on his card while O’Neill made birdies at the first, 12^th and 14^th holes and had seven pars on his card.

   Trey Barkman of West Chester, Charles Carney of Levittown and Joseph Gangemi Jr. of Downingtown finished in a tie for fifth place as each registered an 8-over 73.

   Ian Larsen of Glenmoore took eighth place with a 74, Chase Gillie of Newtown was ninth with a 75 and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished in 10^th place with a 76.

   Ava McCaughan of West Chester was the lone competitor in the 16-to-18 division, but her 88 was the best score among a small group of girls who teed it up at Honeybrook. McCaughan’s round featured three pars.

   Emma Gangemi, another member of Downingtown’s Team Gangemi, and Megan Choi of Penn Valley were the only competitors in the 13-to-15 division and they shared the top spot as each registered a 94. Gangemi had a par on the 14^th hole and Choi opened the back nine with back-to-back pars on 10 and 11.

   Rayan Shah of Newtown and Henry Sokol of Villanova bested the field of nine-holers – they only played the eight holes that were open on Honeybrook’s front nine – as each finished with a 7-over 37. Shah had one par on his scorecard, at the fifth hole, while Henry Sokol had four pars on his card.

   It was a weekend sweep for Henry Sokol as he was coming off a hard-fought victory in the rain and the cold Saturday at Olde Homestead.

   Jack Sokol, another member of Villanova’s Team Sokol, finished two shots behind Henry Sokol and Shah in third place with a 39 as he finished his round with a par at the ninth hole. Henry and Jack Sokol are both Class of 2029 entries, so twins maybe?

   William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr took fourth place with a 40 and Ben Meixell of Wilmington, Del., Ethan Clouser of Newtown and Preston Minio of Lansdale shared fifth place, each landing on 41.

   Jacob Russell, another Wilmington, Del. guy, took eighth place with a 42, Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring was ninth with a 43 and Drew Gebhard of Lebanon rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished 10^th with a 44.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross finishes in a tie for 10th in The Azalea Invitational behind runaway winner Maybank

   After winning the District One Class AAA crown for the second time in three years last fall, Downingtown West junior Nick Gross discussed what his schedule would look like for the spring of 2023.

   One of the events he seemed to be particularly looking forward to was the Azalea Invitational, the 75^th edition of which wrapped up Sunday at the Country Club of Charleston, a course that was in the national spotlight as recently as the spring of 2019 when it hosted the U.S. Women’s Open won by South Korean Jeongeun Lee6.

   The Azalea has tons of history and tradition and brings together an eclectic field of junior standouts like Gross, guys that are sneaking in a weekend in Charleston in the midst of their college season, as well as some seasoned mid-amateurs, guys like Pittsburgh’s Nathan Smith, a four-time winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship who will captain the U.S. Walker Cup team at the iconic Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula in 2025.

   It has been a busy month for Gross, who finished in a tie for 29^th place in the Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship at TPC Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet, S.C. early in March and in a tie for 14^th in the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in Graniteville, S.C. over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

   Gross finished solid, making pars on the last nine holes at the par-71 Country Club of Charleston layout to finish in a group of four players tied for 10^th place with a 5-under-par 279 total for the 72-hole stroke play event.

   Nobody was going to take this title away from P.J. Maybank III, a high school senior from Cheboygan, Mich. who will join the program at Big 12 power Oklahoma this summer.

   Maybank smashed the tournament record by three shots with a spectacular 22-under 262 total that included a pair of 7-under 64s, one in the second round and another in Sunday’s final round.

   The previous record was the 19-under 265 posted by 2011 champion C.T. Pan, a native of Taiwan who owns a PGA Tour win at the 2019 RBC Heritage up the South Carolina coast from Charleston at the Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island.

   Maybank went wire to wire in capturing the title in The Azalea as he grabbed the lead with a 6-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round.

   After opening with a double bogey on the first hole in his second round, Maybank really went off and never looked back. He immediately made amends for the double bogey by making an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole, then rattled off birdies at six, seven, nine, 12 and 13. Maybank stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 15^th hole, but then closed the round in style with birdies at 17 and 18, his sixth and seventh birdies of the day, to finish up his 7-under 64.

   After a comparatively ho-hum 3-under 68 in Saturday’s third round gave Maybank a four-shot lead going into the final round, he went off again, closing with a five-birdie, one eagle, no-bogey masterpiece of a 7-under 64.

   At the end, it was just a matter of by how much he would break Pan’s record.

   Hampton Roberts, a high school senior from Cary, N.C. who will join the program at North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference this summer, was the best of the rest, closing with a 3-under 68 that earned him runnerup honors with an 11-under 273.

   After opening with a 1-over 72, Roberts heated up with a 5-under 66 in Friday’s second round and 4-under 67 in the third round.

   Callahan Keever, a freshman at Anderson University in western South Carolina, was Maybank’s closest pursuer for much of the weekend. Keever matched Maybank’s 7-under 64 in Friday’s second round after opening with a 3-under 68 and only trailed the front-runner by two shots.

   Keever cooled off a little with a 1-under 70 in the third round, but he was still in second place, four shots behind Maybank. A final round of 1-over 72 left Keever one shot behind Roberts in third place with a 10-under 274 total.

   Bruce Murphy, a freshman at Tennessee and an Atlanta native, Carson Brower of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., who will join the program at Florida State, another ACC power, this summer and Nate Smith finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 8-under  276, two shots behind Keever.

   After registering back-to-back 1-under 70s in the first two rounds, Murphy posted a 2-under 69 in the third round before closing with his best round of the weekend, a 4-under 67.

   Brower also started slowly, matching par in Friday’s second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-over 72. He got it going with a sparkling 6-under 65 in the third round before closing with a 3-under 68.

   Couldn’t find much on Nate Smith, but he played some great golf in The Azalea as he added a 2-under 69 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 70, matched par in the third round with a 71 and then finished with a flourish, a 5-under 66.

   They are all people Gross might run into in the next few years on the amateur circuit in the summer or in college golf a few years down the line.

   Gross’ run to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. a week before his 16^th birthday last summer caught the attention of the amateur golf world. By the fall, Gross announced his intention to join the program at SEC power Alabama in the summer of 2024.

   That run to the quarterfinals at Ridgewood has set up the summer of 2023 for Gross. He’s exempt from local qualifying for the U.S. Open. He’s 36 holes of great golf away from being a 16-year-old playing in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Don’t think it can happen?

   The kid finished second in an incredibly competitive U.S. Amateur qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J. to get to Ridgewood last summer. The rest is history.

   Gross will have a starting time at the U.S. Junior Amateur right back in Charleston at the Daniel Island Club in July and at the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, a William Flynn gem in Colorado.

   In The Azalea, Gross got off to a bumpy start in the opening round with a bogey at the first hole, a birdie at two and a bogey at four. He found his groove with birdies at the fifth, seventh, ninth and 10^th holes. After a bogey at the 11^th hole, Gross settled down with pars on the final seven holes for a 2-under 69.

   Gross made his only double bogey of the tournament in Friday’s second round at the sixth hole, but surrounded it with back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 for a second straight 69.

   Gross only managed one birdie at the 10^th hole in Saturday’s third round and bogeys at one, 12 and 16 left him with a 2-over 73.

   Gross had nothing to lose in Sunday’s final round and his front nine included a bogey at the first hole, a birdie at five, a bogey at six, birdies at seven and eight and an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole. Gross then matched the scorecard on the back nine to complete a 3-under 68.

   Merion Golf Club’s Tug Maude, winner of the 2021 Pennsylvania Mid-Amateur Championship at Allegheny Country Club, survived the 54-hole cut after Saturday’s third round and finished in the group tied for 43^rd place with an 8-over 292 total.

   Maude added a 2-over 73 in Friday’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 70 before struggling a little in the third round with a 5-over 76. He closed with a solid 2-over 73.

   Troy Vannucci, the winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Middle-Amateur Championship at Jericho National Golf Club last spring, missed the 54-hole cut by two shots with a 224 total. Vannucci, who plays out of Little Mill Country Club, opened with a 2-over 73 and added a 5-over 76 in Friday’s second round before carding a 4-over 75 in the third round.

   Vannucci was one of GAP’s hottest players last spring as he backed up his win the Middle-Amateur, a GAP major, with a run to the quarterfinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Philadelphia Country Club, where he suffered a 1-up setback to eventual champion Michael R. Brown Jr.

   Vannucci was joined at that 224 figure by former Cowboys quarterback turned CBS analyst Tony Romo, who posted back-to-back 4-over 75s in the first two rounds before adding a 3-over 74 in the third round.

   Nathan Smith, who played on three U.S. Walker Cup sides, also missed the cut with a 230 total. He bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a 4-over 75 in Friday’s second round and a 3-over 74 in the third round.

   That U.S. Walker Cup captaincy is still a few years away, but I’m sure Nathan Smith was paying attention to some of the youngsters who teed it up at the Country Club of Charleston.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fernandes conquers some difficult March conditions at Olde Homestead to claim a Junior Tour victory

   It’s the last Saturday in March, time for spring to get here, so we can get out and play some golf.

   And what did we get? A cold rain, temperatures hovering around 45. Happens a lot in March around here, but still … just awful.

   So give a couple dozen junior kids credit for banging out nine holes as the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli in the Lehigh Valley went off, at least partially, as scheduled.

   And some youngsters learned how to get the ball in the hole somehow in terrible conditions for golf. It’s going to happen again, at some point, but the Junior Tour kids who showed up at Olde Homestead Saturday have some experience in those conditions in the bank.

   And three of them broke 40, led by Ken Fernandes, a visiting player from Chappaqua, N.Y. who claimed a Junior Tour victory by finishing atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with a solid 1-over 37. Fernandes made a birdie on the third hole and had six pars on his scorecard, including four in a row from the fourth through the seventh holes.

   Radnor High junior Shaun Mazzalupi, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship each of last two falls, and Joshua Foreman of Middletown, Del. finished in a tie for second place, each posting a 3-over 39.

   Mazzalupi also birdied the third hole and had four pars on his card. Foreman made it unanimous as he, too, made birdie at the third hole and had six pars on his card.

   St. Joseph’s Prep junior Aidan Farkas, an Ardmore resident, finished alone in fourth place with a 5-over 41. Farkas, a product of the junior program at Llanerch Country Club, finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course last fall.

   Jacob Dommell of Telford finished in fifth place with a 42, Joshua Teichman of Macungie was sixth with a 44, Liam Gamble of Line Lexington was seventh with a 45 and Marshall Kain of Newtown Square, who was a junior on Malvern Prep’s Inter-Ac League championship team last fall, was eighth with a 48.

   Tom Biscotti of Mountain Top finished in ninth place with a 50 and Sean Marino of Lansdale rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as he finished in 10^th place with a 51.

   Kie Shaw of Wilmington, Del. didn’t miss his chance to make a birdie at the third hole and he also had a couple of pars on his scorecard as captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 6-over 42.

   Yaejoon Wee of Chesterbrook had a pair of pars as he earned runnerup honors with a 47 and Joseph Solt of Kunkletown had three pars on his card as he took third place with a 48.

   Winston Chew of Exton and Ryan Kelly of Harleysville finished a shot behind Solt in a tie for fourth place, each registering a 49.

   Collin Schreiber, another Kunkletown entry, finished in sixth place with a 50 and Andrew Bradshaw of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as he ended up in seventh place with a 52.

   Henry Sokol of Villanova bested the field of nine-holers – they only planned to play nine anyway, so they couldn’t have been too disappointed – as he came out of the gate with pars at the first and second holes on his way to a 49.

   Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring had two pars on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors with a 52. Michael Lee of Center Valley made a par at the fifth hole on his way to a third-place finish with a 56.

   Samuel Karas of Blue Bell rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished in fourth place with a 66.

 

 

 

 

 

Dunlap leads the way as a resurgent Alabama claims team title in Linger Longer Invitational

   It was a disappointing spring for Alabama a year ago as the perennial Southeastern Conference power was unable to land a team berth in the NCAA regionals.

   Looks like that’s going to change this spring. Behind individual champion Nick Dunlap, a member of a pretty strong freshman class all around the country, the Crimson Tide beat two of the best teams in the country, Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech, and their SEC rival Vanderbilt to capture the team title in the Linger Longer Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at Reynolds Lake Oconee’s Great Waters Golf Course in Eatonton, Ga.

   Alabama held a one-shot advantage on another SEC rival, Georgia, going into Tuesday’s final round. But the Crimson Tide closed with a solid 8-under 280 to finish eight shots clear of Georgia Tech with a 14-under 850 total.

   Vanderbilt, which has been No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings for pretty much the entirety of the wraparound 2022-2023 season, was another six shots behind the Yellow Jackets in third place.

   Alabama had opened with a 5-under-par 283 before adding a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round. The victory in the Linger Longer, the Crimson Tide’s sixth in the event but their first since 2018, enabled them to move up three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 20 to No. 17.

   It was the second win of the season for Alabama, which seems to be peaking at just the right time with the SEC Championship teeing off April 19 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga.

   If you’re looking for a difference between the Alabama of a year ago and this Alabama team, you probably don’t need to look any further than the addition of Dunlap, a freshman from Huntsville, Ala. and No. 51 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   Dunlap was a standout on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur two summers ago at the Country Club of North Carolina and reached the semifinals in defense of that title last summer at Bandon Dunes.

   Dunlap carded a sparkling 6-under 66 over the 7,436-yard, par-72 Great Waters layout in Monday’s second round after opening with a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead in the individual chase into Tuesday’s final round.

   Dunlap closed with another 2-under 70 for a 10-under 206 total that was two shots clear of the pair of Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, a junior from South Africa and No. 19 in the WAGR, and Vanderbilt’s William Moll, a senior from Houston and No. 100 in the WAGR and who was competing as an individual for the Commodores.

   Georgia Tech was only seven shots behind Alabama going into the final round after bouncing back from an opening round of 4-over 292 with a 3-under 285. Behind the best individual round of the tournament, a scintillating 8-under 64 by Ross Steelman, a senior from Columbia, Mo. and No. 24 in the WAGR, Georgia Tech closed with a 7-under 281, to finish in second place with a 6-under 858 total.

   The Yellow Jackets, who shared the team title with Oklahoma State in last spring’s NCAA Columbus Regional, maintained their No. 11 ranking with their runnerup finish.

   Georgia Tech will tee off in search of an ACC title beginning April 21 at the same Country Club of North Carolina layout where Dunlap won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021 in Pinehurst, N.C. The Yellow Jackets suffered a 3-2 setback to Wake Forest in a hard-fought ACC final last spring.

   Vanderbilt, which remained atop the Golfstat rankings, had a pair of 2-under 286s in the first two rounds, was just two shots behind Alabama going into Tuesday’s final round. The Commodores closed with a 4-over 292 to finish six shots behind Georgia Tech in third place with an even-par 864 total.

   Vanderbilt will be the defending SEC champion when the most competitive conference in the country holds its championship next month at Sea Island.

   Georgia Tech’s ACC rival, Clemson, ranked 44^th in the aftermath of the Linger Longer, finished three shots behind Vanderbilt in fourth place with a 3-over 867 total. The Tigers added a 3-over 291 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 7-over 295 before closing with a solid 7-under 281.

   Georgia was just a shot behind Alabama going into the final round as the Bulldogs matched par in Monday’s second round with a 288 after matching the Crimson Tide’s opening round of 5-under 283. Georgia closed with a 9-over 297 to share fifth place with Chattanooga with a 4-over 868 total, a shot behind Clemson.

   The Bulldogs advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. as a three seed in the Bryan Regional. Like its cross-state rival Georgia Tech, Georgia was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk. Georgia’s tie for fifth place in the Linger Longer enabled it to move up four spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 34 to No. 30.

   Chattanooga, out of the Southern Conference, opened with an 8-over 296, matched par in the second round with a 288 and closed with a 4-under 284 to catch Georgia at 4-over. Chattanooga was ranked No. 50 following the Linger Longer.

   The Moccasins got a big boost from sophomore Garrett Engle, a scholastic standout at Central Dauphin, although Engle never participated in the PIAA postseason during his high school career.

   The kid who finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club in 2019 went to Oklahoma and redshirted last season before deciding to transfer to Chattanooga.

   Engle was right there with some of the best players in college golf this week at Great Waters, sandwiching a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s as he finished in a tie for fourth place with the No. 1 player in the WAGR, Vanderbilt’s Gordan Sargent, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., at 5-under 211.

   Another SEC power, Arkansas, finished eight shots behind Georgia and Chattanooga in seventh place in  the 16-team field with a 12-over 876 total. The Razorbacks added an 11-over 299 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 6-over 294 before finishing strong with a 5-under 283.

   Arkansas failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a three seed at the Columbus Regional.

   Backing up Dunlap for Alabama was J.P. Cave, a junior from Mobile, Ala. who finished in a tie for sixth place with a 3-over 213 total. Cave sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Thomas Ponder, a senior from Dothan, Ala., was two shots behind his teammate Cave in a tie for eighth place with a 1-under 215 total. Ponder matched par with a 72 in the opening round and added a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round. But with the team title on the line, Ponder was at his best, earning low Tide honors for the day with a critical 4-under 68.

   Alabama got a similarly clutch final round from its other veteran senior, Canon Claycomb, the Bowling Green, Ky. native and No. 65 in the WAGR. Claycomb matched par with a 72 in the opening round and struggled to a 5-over 77 in Monday’s second round, but closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish among the group tied for 24^th place with a 3-over 219 total.

   Ponder and Claycomb represented Alabama as individuals in the Bryan Regional a year ago with Claycomb coming up just short of a trip to Grayhawk as he fell in a playoff for the lone individual berth up for grabs for a player from a non-advancing team.

   Rounding out the Alabama lineup was Jonathan Griz, a freshman from Hilton Head, S.C. who finished in the group tied for 79^th place with a 235 total. Griz was the Alabama medalist in the opening round with a 3-under 69, but struggled after that, carding a 7-over 79 in Monday’s second round before closing with an 87.

   Georgia Tech’s Lamprecht opened with a 1-over 73, then came on strong with a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round and a 5-under 67 in the final round to get his share of runnerup honors with an 8-under 208 total.

   Vanderbilt’s Moll made his case for a return to the first five for the Commodores as he matched par in the opening round with a 72, posted a sizzling 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70 to share second place with Lamprecht at 8-under.

   Moll got the lone full point for Vanderbilt in its 3.5-1.5 loss to eventual national champion Texas in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring.

   Sharing fourth place with Chattanooga’s Engle at 5-under 211 was Vanderbilt’s Sargent, the reigning NCAA individual champion. Sargent, who has been trading the No. 1 spot in the WAGR rankings with Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, was typically solid, adding a pair of 1-under 71s in the last two rounds to his opening round of 3-under 69.

   Joining Alabama’s Cave in the tie for sixth place at 3-under 213 was Georgia’s Connor Creasy, a senior from Abingdon, ‘Va. Creasy was just a shot behind Dunlap going into the final round after he added 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 68. Creasy struggled a little in the final round, closing with a 4-over 76.

   Joining Alabama’s Ponder in the tie for eighth place at 1-under 215 was Clemson’s Kian Rose, a redshirt sophomore from South Africa who opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Three Georgia Tech players were part of a foursome that rounded out the top 10 in the individual standings in a tie for 10^th place at even-par 216.

   Steelman struggled to an 80 in the opening round and matched par in the second round before unfurling his 64, an eight-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece, in the final round to zoom up the leaderboard and get his piece of 10^th place.

   Fellow Yellow Jacket Connor Howe, a senior from Ogden, Utah and No. 66 in the WAGR, opened with a 4-under 68, backed off with a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round and matched par in the final round with a 72.

   Benjamin Reuter, a sophomore from The Woodlands, Texas, gave Georgia Tech a fourth top-10 finisher, although he was competing as an individual and didn’t count in the team tally. Reuter added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Rounding out the quartet at even par was Arkansas’ Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a senior from Argentina and No. 26 in the WAGR. Fernandez de Oliveira started strong with a 4-under 68, fell back to even with a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round and matched par in the final round with a 72.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual champion Augustsson leads East Carolina to team crown in ECU Intercollegiate; Temple finishes fifth

   Behind individual champion Lucas Augustsson, a freshman from Sweden, East Carolina won its home tournament, the ECU Intercollegiate at Brook Valley, presented by Dogwood State Bank, which wrapped up Tuesday at Brook Valley Country Club in Greenville, N.C.

   The tournament was supposed to have a double round Monday, but the second round wasn’t completed until Tuesday morning. Pretty sure, some of the cold and wind that buffeted the area Sunday was still around early Monday and the opening-round scores reflected that.

   Augustsson opened with a 4-over-par 76 over the 6,830-yard, par-72 Brook Valley layout. By the time he completed a solid 3-under 69 Tuesday morning, he was three shots behind Ollie Smith, a Queens University of Charlotte senior from England, and Gardner-Webb’s Max White, a senior from Tampa, Fla., going into Tuesday’s final round.

   Augustsson, however, closed with a sparkling 4-under 68 to finish atop the leaderboard with a 3-under 213 total and his first collegiate victory.

   The Pirates, who play out of the American Athletic Conference, opened with a 12-over 300 in the difficult conditions at Brook Valley early in the day Monday that left them a shot behind Francis Marion. A solid 1-over 289 over two days in the second round gave East Carolina a two-shot edge on the Patriots and a final round of 5-over 293 enabled the Pirates to maintain that two-shot edge with an 18-over 882 total.

   After opening with an 11-over 299, Francis Marion, out of the Southland Conference, put together a 4-over 292 when the second round finally ended. The Patriots matched East Carolina’s final round of 5-over 293 to take runnerup honors with a 20-over 884 total.

   Francis Marion was led by individual runnerup Mitchell Vance, a senior from Hartsville, S.C., as Vance opened with a solid 2-under 70 that matched the low round in Monday morning’s difficult conditions and added a 1-over 73 in the second round that left him just a shot out of the lead going into the final round. Vance finished up with a 1-under 71 to end up a shot behind Augustsson with a 2-under 214 total.

   James Madison, out of the Sun Belt Conference, closed with a solid 1-over 289 to finish a shot behind Francis Marion in third place with a 21-over 885 total. The Dukes had opened with a 14-over 302 before adding a 6-over 294 in the second round.

   James Madison and East Carolina were the highest-ranked teams in the Golfstat rankings in the field at Nos. 145 and 146, respectively.

   Barton College, No. 22 in the Division II rankings, was another three shots behind James Madison with a 24-over 888 total as the Bulldogs opened with a 14-over 302, added a solid 3-over 291 in the second round and closed with a 7-over 295.

   It was a solid showing for East Carolina’s AAC rival Temple as the Owls, getting three top-20 individual finishers in Ethan Whitney, a sophomore from Westminster, Mass., Graham Chase, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., and veteran senior Conor McGrath, winner of the 2021 BMW Philadelphia Amateur crown who is a product of the junior program at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, finished in fifth place, seven shots behind Barton with a 31-over 895 total.

   Temple struggled to an opening-round 305 before adding an 8-over 296 in the second round and closing with a 6-over 294.

   Gardner-Webb, a Big South Conference entry, and Oakland, out of the Horizon League, finished in a tie for sixth place in the 16-team field, a shot behind Temple as each landed on 32-over 896.

   The Runnin’ Bulldogs bounced back from an opening-round 306 with a solid 1-over 289 in the second round before finishing up with a 13-over 301. After struggling to an opening-round 310, the Golden Grizzlies registered back-to-back 5-over 293s in the final two rounds.

   Backing up Augustsson for East Carolina was Carter Busse, a sophomore from Davidson, N.C. who finished in a tie for 12^th place with an 8-over 224 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Busse recorded a 75 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Tyler DeChellis, a sophomore from Clayton, N.C., and Philip Linburg Bondestad, a freshman from Norway, finished among the group tied for 33^rd place for the Pirates, each landing on 10-over 226.

   DeChellis struggled to an 80 in the opening round before contributing a solid 1-under 71 to East Carolina’s second-round surge and closing with a 3-over 75. Linburg Bondestad matched par in the opening round with a 72, added a 4-over 76 in the second round and closed with a 6-over 78 that was still a critical counter for the Pirates.

   Rounding out the East Carolina lineup was Nic Brown, a graduate student from Wendell, N.C. who finished in the group tied for 41^st place with a 228 total. Brown added a 2-under 74 in the second round to his opening-round 75 – both were counters for the Pirates – before closing with a 79.

   Gardner-Webb’s White and James Madison’s Vaclav Tichy, a freshman from the Czech Republic, finished in a tie for third place in the individual standings, a shot behind Francis Marion’s Vance, as each finished with a 1-under 215 total.

   White had a share of the individual lead going into the final round as he matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 2-under 70 that matched the low round of Monday morning’s first round. White finished up with a 1-over 73. Tichy added a solid 2-under 70 to his opening round of 2-over 74 before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Queens University of Charlotte’s Smith and Vance’s Francis Marion teammate, Grant Sellers, a fifth-year player from McBee, S.C., finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on even-par 216.

   Smith had a share of the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 3-under 69 to his opening round of 1-over 73. Smith finished up with a 2-over 74. After opening with a 4-over 76, Sellers was solid, carding a 1-under 71 in a second round that started Monday and concluded Tuesday morning, and closing with a 3-under 69.

   Marshall’s Tyler Jones, a senior from Westerville, Ohio, finished alone in seventh place, two shots behind Smith and Sellers with a 2-over 218 total as he added a 1-under 71 in the second round to his opening round of 2-over 74 before closing with a 73.

   Barton’s Ryan Jahr, a freshman from Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., and Presbyterian’s Lleyton Renner, a junior from Simpsonville, S.C., finished in a tie for eighth place, a shot behind Jones as each ended up with a 3-over 219 total.

   Jahr got it going in the second round with a 2-under 70 after opening with a 3-over 75 and then closed with a 74. Renner matched par in each of the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before finishing up with a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings were Tichy’s James Madison teammate, Owen Kose, a freshman from Holly Springs, N.C., and Northern Kentucky’s Alex Doss, a graduate student from Campbellsville, Ky., both of whom landed on 4-over 220.

   After struggling with a 78 in the opening round, Doss matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a 2-under 70. After opening with a 2-over 74, Kose registered back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds.

   Whitney led the way for Temple as he carded back-to-back 1-over 73s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-over 75 to finish in a tie for 12^th place with a 5-over 221 total.

   Chase was right behind Whitney as he ended up in a tie for 14^th place with a 6-over 222 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Chase matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   McGrath, who starred scholastically at Academy of the New Church, gave Temple a third player inside the top 20 as he closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish in the group tied for 19^th place with an 8-over 224 total. After opening with a 6-over 78, McGrath added a 76 in the second round.

   Jake Naese a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., finished in a tie for 56^th place with a 231 total for the Owls. After struggling to an opening-round 80, Naese added a 3-over 75 in the second round before closing with a 76. Both of Nases’s last two rounds were counters for Temple.

   Rounding out the Temple lineup was junior Andrew Curran, winner of the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship as a senior at Malvern Prep in 2018. After opening with a 5-over 77, Curran struggled in the second round with an 84 before closing with a 79 to finish in a tie for 83^rd place.

   Danny Nguyen, a junior from Vietnam, competed as an individual for Temple and finished in a tie for 88^th place with a 243 total. Nguyen’s best round was a 78 in the second round that started Monday and was completed Tuesday. He opened with an 82 and closed with an 83.