HICKORY, N.C. – Catawba's Men's Golf finished the third and final round of play with a second-place finish and score of +23 at the Lenoir-Rhyne Fall Invite on Tuesday, wrapping up their fall season at the Lake Hickory Golf Club having notched a top-seven finish in each of their four events and three top-five finishes, all coming down the back stretch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
·- Catawba played their best golf on Monday in the opening two rounds, finishing round one at +5, 293 and adding on a +6, 294 for a solid opening day of play. While they endured a tough +12, 300 on Tuesday, it was still enough to give Catawba a comfortable second place finish +5 above third placed Sandhills CC.
- Chad Coburn played some of his best golf to date, finishing third overall at -3, 213 as just one of three golfers to finish under par. His 12 birdies led all Catawba players, five of them coming in a stellar second round that would be his best of the three. Coburn's opened up with a big stretch came in the front-nine of round one, where he posted two birdies, seven rounds at par, and just one bogey. His most impressive patch came in the back-nine of the second round, where Coburn notched an eagle, four birdies, and three pars over nine holes in dominant fashion. More impressive, however, was his scoring of an eagle in each of the three rounds, the only player do so during the tournament
- Paul Esnault was right behind Coburn, finishing T-4th at even, 216. He was consistent through all three rounds, scoring a 71, 72, and 73 with eight birdies, 38 pars, and just eight bogeys across 54 holes in another very solid performance. Esnault closed round one with two birdies and six pars across the back-nine before parlaying that form into three more birdies and six pars across the front-nine of round two, arguably his best run of play. While the final round was his worst score-wise, Esnault was still impressive with a birdie and 15 pars across 18 holes
- Connor Carter would finish T-22nd at +12, 228, opening with an excellent round one before being tripped up in the following one. After a double bogey on just the third hole in the opening round, Carter would rack up an impressive three birdies and 11 pars with just one bogey the rest of the way for a score of 72. However, a bogey-strewn second round that ended at 80 would slow his momentum. Carter's final round started off slow as well, but a back-nine of a birdie and 6 pars brought him back into it for a respectable finish. Carter posted 2 birdies and 21 pars overall
· Ryan Masterton would end play in 47th at +23, 239, putting up a pair of 78s in rounds two and three after a tough opening round where he scored an 83. He racked up two birdies and 21 pars across those second two frames after no birdies in the opening round, rounding into form as play went on.
· Hayden Mincey finished 50th at +29, 245, starting off with an 81 and 80 in rounds one and two before posting an 84 in the final round. Mincey notched three birdies and 17 pars across his three rounds of play
· Justin Nagy ended play in 60th with a score of +37, 253. Nagy's best round, an 83, would come in round two as he notched four birdies and 23 pars overall.
NOTES
· Coburn became the second Catawba player this season to record an eagle with his three during play, joining Carter after his had come during the season-opening Griffin Invitational
· Both Coburn (3rd) and Esnault (T-4th) recorded their best finishes of the season. Coburn's previous high had been third at the Richard Rendleman Invitational, while Esnault's had been T-6th at the Griffin Invitational
