RALEIGH, N.C. – The Wofford men's golf team earned a fifth-place result in North Carolina State's Stitch Intercollegiate, using a 1-under final round to score 867 at the par-71 Lonnie Poole Golf Course.
Will Jones led the Terriers at even par to secure a career-best sixth-place result.
The event was affected by rainy conditions on day one, which was set to feature a full 36 holes on day one before a final round of 18 on day two. However, Friday saw a weather delay with round two being suspended midway through after the resumption of play ran into darkness. Saturday opened with the completion of the second round, which led straight into the final round of play.
Wofford posted a 290 in round one and 294 in round two. A 1-under team showing in round three at 283 pushed the Terriers two spots up the leaderboard into fifth, besting sixth-place Eastern Michigan by one stroke. The Terriers owned the third-best par-5 scoring average at 4.93. Lipscomb won the 13-team event with an 853 at 1-over. UNCG finished as the runner up, three strokes behind, and the host NC State was five strokes behind in third.
The Terriers were led by
Will Jones with an even-par 213 score. He tallied rounds of 71-70-72 en route to a sixth-place result, the best finish of his career and the first top 10 in his career. This is just his second ever top 20. Jones was one of eight players in the event to secure an eagle, notching a hole-in-one in the second round on hole two.
Ben Jordan marked a pair in the top 10 by placing eighth. His 2-over 214 was hard-earned after opening with rounds of 72 and 75. A career-low 67 in the final round propelled Jordan 26 spots up the leaderboard into his tie for eighth to secure his fourth top-10 finish in his career and second of the season. With a 4.64 par-5 scoring average, Jordan posted the third best in the event. His 13 birdies were the most by a player in the field.
NC State's Michael Vick earned low medalist honors with a 5-under 208 score in the 77-player field. He moved up one spot in the final round to just edge Lipscomb's Alejandro Rodriguez by a single stroke.
Competing as an individual,
Max Cranford shined with one of his best showings ever. Cranford carded a career-low 68 in the first round and posted a 71 in the second round to enter the final 18 holes in first place. His lead did not hold with a 76 in the third round, but Cranford finished in 14
th for his fourth-career top 20.
Andrew Aquino tied for 32
nd with a 219 score after posting rounds of 72 and 76 to open, and his 71 recovery in the third secured the result.
Charles Warren was tied for 49
th with a 223 score. He posted rounds of 75-73-75.
Miller Carr rounds out the Terrier lineup in 65
th, carding a 227 with rounds of 76-78-73.
This event was the penultimate tournament of the season for the Terriers, who now set their sights on the Southern Conference Championship. The tournament is set to begin on Sunday, April 20, in Greensboro, Georgia. The three-day event will conclude with a champion crowned on Tuesday, April 22.
