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.