HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Freshman Nick Willis lead the Wofford men's golf team to a 12^th place finish at the Wexford Intercollegiate, held Feb. 26-27 at Wexford Plantation. The 54-hole tournament, Wofford's first of the spring season, included 18 teams.
 
"We saw a lot of improvements from the fall," said head coach Alex Hamilton. "It was one of our better tournaments of the season. We started strong yesterday, and though conditions were very tough day, we kept fighting. There are lots of positives to focus on as we head in to next week at the Palmetto Club."
 
The Terriers shot 295 in both rounds on Monday and finished with a score of 217 in Tuesday's final round. The total score of 907 was 43 over par on the par 72 course. Wofford's 12^th place finish was two shots back of Akron and five shots ahead of Gardner-Webb, who finished 13th.
 
Willis finished tied for 18^th with a total score of 221. The freshman opened with a 69 (-3) and tied for the third best round of the day. The round of 69 also tied a career best for Willis. He shot 73 in the second 18 on Monday, Wofford's second best score in the second round. The native of Cowpens shot 79 in the final round to finish 5 for the tournament.
 
"We had a chance for a freshman to finish in the top 10 (out of 90), so it's a promising step in the right direction for him," said Alexander. 
 
Fellow freshman Ryan Marter was the second best Terrier in the field. Marter finished 8 and tied for 29^th. The Columbia native also had his best round in the first 18 Monday, as he shot 72 before finishing the day by carding a 74. The round of 72 is a collegiate best for Marter. He shot 78 on Tuesday and his score counted in all three rounds for the Terriers.
 
Walker Simas finished tied for 32^nd with a score of 225 ( 9). The sophomore started off Monday with a 75, then improved four strokes to card a 71, Wofford's best score of the round, in the second 18. Simas shot 79 in Tuesday's final round and his scores, too, counted in all three rounds.
 
Harrison Frye tied for 73^rd. The senior finished with a total score of 238 ( 22). Frye opened with an 80 and improved three shots in the second round with a 77. He shot 81 in the final round.
 
Drake Cassidy, the second senior in the lineup, finished 34 and in 88^th place. Cassidy shot 79 in both of the rounds on Monday, then shot 92 on Tuesday. 
 
TCU won the tournament, shooting 853 as a team, 11 under par. Georgia finished as the runner-up, one stroke back and 23 shots ahead of Furman who finished in third. Memphis finished in fourth and Mercer and Radford tied for fifth. TCU's Stefano Mazzoli won the tournament at -10 thanks to a third round 65 that propelled him past Davis Thompson of Georgia.
 
Wofford returns to the course on March 3-4 at the Palmetto Intercollegiate. The tournament is held at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C.