PINEHURST, N.C. – The men's golf team entered the final round of Tuesday's Southern Conference Championship with a one-shot lead, but it did not hold up. The Terriers battled windy conditions and tough pin placements at Pinehurst No. 9 to card a final-round 20-over-par 308, finishing fifth and eight shots back of team champion ETSU.
 
At one point through the final nine holes, five teams were all within two shots of the lead. ETSU and UNCG were at 11-over, Wofford was a shot back at 12-over and Furman and Chattanooga loomed right behind at 13-over. The Terriers suffered seven bogeys and a double-bogey through 16, 17 and 18 to fall out of it, while ETSU held on by a single shot to claim the title for a second straight year over UNCG.
 
"We got off to a bad start and pressed a little bit to try and make birdies," head coach Vic Lipscomb said. "This is not the type of golf course where you can make a lot of birdies. You just have to limit your bogeys.
 
"The course played really tough today. We had a little added pressure by leading the tournament, but I didn't think it was much. Ultimately, you have to go out there and do it."
 
At the conclusion of the championship, the Southern Conference announced its postseason honors and awards. Head coach Vic Lipscomb was named Southern Conference Co-Coach of the Year alongside ETSU's Fred Warren. It was Lipscomb's first time being recognized with the honor. The junior duo of Andrew Novak and Jeremy Grab were each named to the 10-member All-Southern Conference Team.
 
"It was truly an honor to be named Coach of the Year by my peers," Lipscomb added. "Andrew and Jeremy were very deserving of the all-conference team. Andrew led the conference through the regular season in stroke average, Jeremy was third and both of them won tournaments. It was a great season for the two of them."
 
Entering the 54th hole of the three-day tournament, Grab held a one shot lead for the individual championship over ETSU's Adrian Meronk. The two were paired together with Grab at 7-under and Meronk at 6-under standing on the final tee box.
 
Grab, who was 2-under on his round with four birdies, hit his tee shot high and right. It caught the wind and wound up mere feet out of bounds. He was forced to hit a second tee shot and carded a double-bogey, Meanwhile, the 17th-ranked collegiate golfer in the country from ETSU hit the par-4 green in two and two-putted to win the championship at 6-under-par 210.
 
Grab concluded the tournament with a final-round even-par 72, tying for second with Furman's Bryce Howell at 5-under-par. The Terrier junior from Charleston, S.C. was the leader from the get-go after an opening-round 4-under 68 shot him into the lead. He posted a 1-under 71 in Monday's second round to remain in front by a single shot heading to Tuesday's final round and did not surrender the lead until his unfortunate double on the last.
 
Grab's 72 was the best round of the day for Wofford. Junior Andrew Novak struggled to a 5-over 77, albeit with a hole-out from 100 yards for eagle at the par-4, 14th. Novak sank his first birdie of the day at 15 to get back to 2-over for the round, but bogeyed 16, 17 and 18 on the way in. He finished tied for seventh at 3-over-par 219.
 
"He went out there to win the tournament, got off to a bad start and I thought he started to press a little," said Lipscomb on Novak's final round. "But he had a fantastic year. His 67 was low round of the tournament, and that shows you what he can do when he gets it on."
 
Senior Grant Waggoner also came in with a final-round 77. He got off to a good start with a birdie at the par-4 first. Four bogeys along the front nine pushed the Charleston, S.C. native to 3-over, but he responded with a birdie at the par-5 10th. He then played the final six holes at 3-over, posting bogeys at 13, 16 and 17. Waggoner tied for 23rd.
 
Sophomores Evan Grenus and Drake Cassidy each suffered final rounds of 10-over 82. Grenus completed the championship 11-over-par 227 to finish 21st. Cassidy was 17-over-par in 32nd.
 
Lipscomb is optimistic on his team's chances for next season, considering four of his five starters are returning.
 
"I think it's fantastic that the majority of our guys are coming back next year," the head coach went on to say. "They've been through the fire and if they are in the same situation next year they will react better to it. We fired at a lot of pins we shouldn't have fired at today."
 
SoCon Player of the Year
Adrian Meronk, ETSU
 
SoCon Freshman of the Year
Bryce Hendrix, UNCG
 
SoCon Co-Coaches of the Year
Fred Warren, ETSU
Vic Lipscomb, Wofford
 
All-Southern Conference
Gudmundur Kristjansson, ETSU
Adrian Meronk, ETSU
Preston Cole, Furman
Wehman Hopke, Furman
Taylor Coalson, UNCG
Jake McGlone, UNCG
Zach Hughes, Samford
Wes Gosselin, Chattanooga
Jeremy Grab, Wofford
Andrew Novak, Wofford
 
SoCon All-Freshman
Geuntae Kim, ETSU
Connor Bruns, Furman
Bryce Hendrix, UNCG
Aaron Walker, Samford
Lake Johnson, Chattanooga
 
2016 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship
Pinehurst No. 9 – Pinehurst, N.C.
Par 72 – 7,091 Yards
 
FINAL RESULTS
 
Team Leaderboard

1. ETSU	+12 (876)
2. UNCG	+13 (877)
3. Furman	+15 (879)
4. Chattanooga	+18 (882)
5. Wofford	+20 (884)
6. Western Carolina	+31 (895)
7. Samford	+41 (905)
8. Mercer	+54 (918)

 
Player Leaderboard

1. (17) Adrian Meronk, ETSU	-6 (72-69-69—210)
T2. Jeremy Grab, Wofford	-5 (68-71-72—211)
T2. Bryce Howell, Furman	-5 (70-71-70—211)
4. Kory Webb, Chattanooga	-2 (71-72-71—214)
T5. Mark David Johnson, W. Carolina	+1 (72-71-74—217)
T5. Mateusz Gradecki, ETSU	+1 (70-73-74—217)
T7. Andrew Novak, Wofford	+3 (75-67-77—219)
T7. Wehman Hopke, Furman	+3 (72-70-77—219)
T7. Josh Stockwell, UNCG	+3 (75-70-74—219)
T10. Wes Gosselin, Chattanooga	+4 (74-72-74—220)
T10. Gudmundur Kristjansson, ETSU	+4 (74-71-75—220)
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T21. Evan Grenus, Wofford	+11 (74-71-82—227)
T23. Grant Waggoner, Wofford	+12 (74-77-77—228)
T32. Drake Cassidy, Wofford	+17 (75-76-82—233)

 
National rankings in parentheses and according to Golfstat