Second-place finish for Eagles at Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate
FLEMING ISLAND, FLA. – The Carson-Newman men’s golf team put together a run to begin Tuesday’s third and final round of the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate to tie for the lead but a late charge from Armstrong State sent the Eagles to a second-place finish at The Golf Club at Fleming Island Plantation in Fleming Island, Fla.
FLEMING ISLAND, FLA. – The Carson-Newman men's golf team put together a run to begin Tuesday's third and final round of the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate to tie for the lead but a late charge from Armstrong State sent the Eagles to a second-place finish at The Golf Club at Fleming Island Plantation in Fleming Island, Fla.
Junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) and freshman Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) finished in the top-six to guide the Eagles.
"The Eagles played and grinded hard today," coach Randy Wylie said. "At some point on the back nine, we had a lead, but just let it slip away at the end. Though we were disappointed in not winning the first-place trophy, this was a good start to the spring season. Dalton Reese had a very good tournament with a third-place finish."
Reese shot a one-over 72 to finish in third-place, which is the best finish in the junior's career. He opened his round with birdies on two of his first seven holes, but bogeys on two of the next three holes put him at even-par through 10. Reese went birdie-bogey on the par fours 12th and 13th; he finished his round with four pars on the last five holes with his lone bogey coming on the par-three 17th. The Georgian finished the tournament tied for third on par-five scoring with an average of 4.50 strokes.
Headrick shot his first round over-par during the tournament with a one-over 72 after shooting a 70 during each of Monday's two rounds to finish in a tie for sixth; the sixth-place tie is Headrick's best collegiate finish. The Maryville, Tenn.-native shot par on 15 of his 18 holes. He opened the round with a bogey on the par-four first but responded with a birdie on the par-five fifth. Eleven-straight pars ensued for Headrick before bogeying the par-five 18 for his score of 72. The freshman shot an average of 3.89 on par-fours, which ranked third in the field of 98, and he led the field with 40 pars.
Freshman Grant Bodie (Newport, Tenn.) finished his first collegiate tournament with a three-over 74 to finish in a tie for 28th. Bodie opened his round with birdies on four of his first six holes, including three-straight birdies on the second, third and fourth holes. A score of seven-over during his final 10 holes brought him to his 74. He tied for third in the field with 12 birdies during his 72 holes of play.
Senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) responded from back-to-back rounds of 75 to shoot a two-over 73 during the final round. Hall shot one-over on each the front and back nines with birdies on the par-five third and the par-three 15th. The senior tied his teammate Bodie for 28th.
Senior Nick Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) shot a six-over 77 on Tuesday and finished in a tie for 34th. Kennedy bogeyed his first hole of the day, but responded with a birdie on the par-five fifth two holes later. After his bogey on the fifth-hole, he bogeyed the par-three sixth and shot three-over on the 10th and 11th holes. Kennedy capped his round with a birdie on the 18th hole. The Canadian tied for 15th in scoring on par-fours with a stroke average of 4.15.
Senior Jace Devault (Bluff City, Tenn.) finished his event with a 13-over 84 on Tuesday and finished in 75th-place. Devault's round was his first round in the 80s this season and the Eagles' highest score of the season. He opened his round with a birdie on the par-five third.
The Eagles led the 17-team field in par-four scoring with a team average of 4.18 strokes. Carson-Newman recorded the third-most birdies on the week with 40.
Armstrong State won the team competition by four strokes over C-N. Palm Beach Atlantic finished third, five strokes behind the Orange and Blue, with North Greenville and North Georgia rounding out the top-five. North Greenville's Christian Constance won the individual medal by a stroke over Armstrong's Jake Obryan. Reese placed third and Barrett Waters from West Georgia and David Lui from Palm Beach Atlantic tied for fourth. Constance, Obryan, Reese, Waters and Lui made up the All-Tournament team.
The Eagles will next compete in two weeks at the NCAA Southeast Region Preview at Mission Inn Resort & Golf Club in Howie-in-the-Hills, Fla.
2 Carson-Newman 293-282-294
3 Dalton Reese 73-65-72 210
T6 Jake Headrick 70-70-72 212
T28 Grant Bodie (Individual) 71-78-74 223
T28 Andrew Hall 75-75-73 223
T34 Nick Kennedy 75-73-77 224
75 Jace Devault 76-77-84 237
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