Eagles finish fourth at Division-I Benbow Invitational
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Three members of the Carson-Newman men’s golf team finished in the top-seven of the Benbow Invitational played at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Three members of the Carson-Newman men's golf team finished in the top-seven of the Benbow Invitational played at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
The team finished in fourth-place in the Division-I tournament and finished higher than three D-I teams.
Freshman Ben Kennard (Corryton, Tenn.) and sophomore Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) shot the team's low score of the second round of 74.
No Eagle shot a higher score on day two than they shot on day one and five of the six golfers improved their scores.
Kennard, Reese and junior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) all finished within six strokes of the top-placed golfer.
"Great job today by Ben Kennard. His fourth-place finish was the best finish in his career. I am impressed with his improvement," coach Randy Wylie said. "As a team, we had a more consistent round, but without anyone going low, we could not make up as much ground as we would've liked. After not playing for three weeks because of the weather, this really sets up well for the rest of the spring schedule."
Kennard tied for fourth-place and recorded his best career finish. His 74 is the second-lowest round of the season for the freshman; he also now holds the lowest finish for any Carson-Newman freshman this season.
Hall and Reese both finished with a total score of nine-over 151 and tied for seventh. Reese's final score of nine-over was a 12-stroke improvement over his first tournament of the spring season. For the first time in a two-round tournament this season, Hall's score dropped after the second round. He shot a 75 on Tuesday after shooting 76 on Monday.
Junior Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario) finished with a final round 80. The nine-over 80 is only the Canadian's third round of 80 or higher during the 2014-15 season.
For the first time this season, junior Corey Bray (Caryville, Tenn.) improved his score over the progression of the tournament. Bray improved his score by five shots on his scorecard with a 79 during the final round. He finished in a tie for 28th. Bray's five-shot difference was the best improvement by an Eagle on the day.
Florida Atlantic won the Benbow Invitational by 10 strokes over host Butler. The Owls' Derron Payton won the individual competition by two strokes over teammate Cody Christensen with two-round total of 145.
The Eagles return to action next week at The Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate hosted by Tennessee Tech. The tournament will be held at Carson-Newman's home course, the Sevierville Golf Club.
4 Carson-Newman 313 306 619
T4 Ben Kennard (Individual) 75 74 149
T7 Andrew Hall 76 75 151
T7 Dalton Reese 77 74 151
T22 Nathan Hodge 80 78 158
26 Nicklaus Kennedy 80 80 160
T28 Corey Bray 84 79 163
