Final few holes keep Eagles out of match play at the SAC tournament
C-N was in a fight with Anderson all day for the final spot in the match play segment of the SAC tournament, but fell just short with bogeys down the stretch to finish 5th.
GREENVILLE, S.C. – C-N was in a fight with Anderson all day for the final spot in the match play segment of the SAC tournament, but fell just short with bogeys down the stretch to finish 5th.
It was a tug of war all day between Anderson and Carson-Newman. Coming into the final two holes, C-N was as close as two strokes back. Ultimately, the Eagles were six strokes off of Anderson to tie for 4th and send the match into a playoff, and seven from clinching the 4th seed in the medal match play tomorrow. #5 Wingate, #9 Catawba, and #16 LMU will take up the remaining spots on the final day.
With this being the first year the South Atlantic Conference has adopted this format, it certainly made for another layer of pressure C-N had to battle with throughout the three stroke play rounds.
"I don't even really think it was at the end. Just throughout the tournament, there's a stretch of holes in the middle of the course where we just made a lot of double bogeys," said head coach Randy Wylie. "They're really hard holes, but you shouldn't be making doubles. And we made a bunch of them. And if we just handled our business a little better, then I think we would be clear at the end."
On the final day, Bowen Wentz ended up as the best finisher for the Eagles. The freshman was consistent and cool, making birdie on the par-three 2nd thanks to a 40-foot putt that dropped for him, and recorded nine pars in a row. Then, he made back-to-back bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes, but fired back with a birdie on the par-five 14th. Wentz played hole 14 two-under this week.
"Bo is just a gamer and he's tough and he fought and he didn't let a disappointing first round affect his confidence through the rest of the tournament. After the first round, he just looked at me and smiled and said, "I got you, coach." He did. It was impressive," said Wylie.
With a final round of even-par 72, the Woodstock, Georgia native was +7 across the tournament. He was the Eagles highest finisher at 14th overall.
"We're young and we got fifth. Just missed match play by one this year. We know we can do it. We got to trust in each other and we're going to keep working hard. I know they will," said Bowen Wentz following the round.
Dylan Frein was five shots back of Bowen. Frein had a challenging start to the round with a bogey on the second and a double on the third. He was back to his consistent ways with 5 pars after that, but doubled the 540-yard par five 9th for a 41 (+5) on the front. The freshman cleaned up after that, though. With seven pars on the back nine, a bogey, and a two-putt birdie on hole 18, Frein ended up with a final round 77 (+5). In his first SAC tournament, the Fleming Island, Florida native shot +9 throughout the 54 holes and was 17th in the field.
Brady Wentz matched Frein at 77 (+5). The junior made three bogeys on the front nine but negated one with a birdie on the par-three 6th. After a double on hole 10, Wentz birdied the par-four 12th. After a few more bogeys, the junior found his final birdie on the 17th. Brady was +19 across the three rounds and 40th in the event.
Theo Baker was doing well through the first nine, fighting off a bogey at the 2nd with a birdie on the par-five 5th. After going even par on the front nine, Baker made three doubles on the back nine to go along with four pars and a birdie at the 14th. His score was the final one to count for the Eagles at 78 (+6) in the final round. Baker was +12 across the tournament and 23rd in the standings.
Ian Schoonmaker was even par through five holes thanks to a birdie at the 3rd before a string of bogeys from hole 6 to 10. He reset on the back nine to record five straight pars before another double at the 16th. He finished his day on a positive note, though, with birdie on the 18th. With a final round of 80 (+8), Schoonmaker was +18 and 37th in the rankings.
The 5th place finish for the Eagles came with a score of +39 as a team and was 4 rankings higher than last season's 9th place rank. Despite the loss to Anderson, C-N did top the #47 Lenoir-Rhyne team, which was 11th in the Southeast Regional rankings that werereleased on April 10th.
The selection show for the NCAA DII Men's Golf Championship will take place on April 26th on the NCAA website. If C-N does not make the tournament, the Eagles look forward to a really bright future, with all five starters returning to next year's team.
"I think we have a great opportunity to come back and do a lot better next year. I know it wasn't the finish that we wanted, but I have a lot of trust in these guys," said Wentz. "These guys are my ride or die. We'll get it done next year."
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