Three Eagles finish inside top 25 while team falls to ninth place last second at the Hurricane Invitational
Aidan Collier, Dylan Frein, Theo Baker all finished top 25 or better while a few unfortunate double-bogeys in the home stretch would drop the Eagles two positions.
ALBANY, Ga. – Aidan Collier, Dylan Frein, Theo Baker all finished top 25 or better while a few unfortunate double-bogeys in the home stretch would drop the Eagles two positions.
Larson hit his stride five holes into the round. After beginning his day on hole ten, the sophomore would birdie the 14th, 17th and 18th holes to shoot 34 (-2) on the back. A bogey on the second and a double on the par three 6th would fall in the final few holes of his round, though. With a 74 (+2) on the day, Larson was one of two Eagles who gained ground on the field, moving up four places for 42nd overall. He totaled a +9 on the week.
Theo Baker continued his strong play through this final round. The junior began his day with a birdie on the par four 8th, and would go on to bounce back from a double bogey at the twelfth with two birdies on the 13th and 15th holes. Baker wrote down a two at the par-three 2nd, but would bogey the par four 5th to close out his front nine at even par. His 74 (+2) on the day was tied for the team best and was good for a top 25 finish. Baker shot +5 on the week.
Brady Wentz took care of the par-five 15th with a birdie. Following two bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, Wentz would card five pars on the front and birdie his final hole of the day to come in with a 75 (+3). Wentz was +7 on the week with a 35th place finish.
Dylan Frein started his day with a par on the eighth hole, but would go on to bogey four holes on the back nine for a 39 (+3) on the back half of the scorecard. His front nine was cleaner, with seven pars, the freshman would come finish is third round with a 77 (+5) for a top 20, 16th place finish at +3 overall.
Aidan Collier went into the day with the solo lead. The sophomore bogeyed his first hole, but fired a birdie on the 18th to go back to even through his first two hole. The par-three 6th hole was playing as one of the tougher holes of the final round, and it got the better of the Eagle, with a double coupled with two more bogeys to put together a 40 (+4) on the front. Despite another birdie on the par-four 12th, Collier would make three bogeys in his final seven holes to come in at 77 (+5) on the round for a three-day total of 217 (+1). He finished tied for 12th overall in his first collegiate tournament.
Bacon had a phenomenal start to his final round. The sophomore birdied his first hole of the day on the par-four 10th and, a few holes later, would eagle the par-five 15th to start his round two under through six. Following a few bogeys, would record a two on the par-three 6th and finish with a triple bogey on hole 8 and a double on 9 to card a 77 (+5). Bacon was +20 on the weekend and finished 74th overall.
"We enjoyed that tournament and can definitely see our team improving. We've still got a ways to go, but we just didn't quite finish the way we would have liked. The guys in general are improving, but it's a long season and we have a lot of work still to do," said head coach Randy Wylie following the round.
The Eagles finished 9th overall with a team score of +24 and were just narrowly passed by nationally ranked teams like LMU and Wingate.
Carson-Newman Men's golf returns to the course on October 13th and 14th for the Dov Spragg Invitational in Findlay, Ohio before they wrap up their season at the Bearcat Fall Classic in South Carolina.
