CHATTANOOGA--Junior Ben Rickett endured an afternoon rain shower to fire a career-best 66, to earn runner-up honors and lead Chattanooga to a second-place team finish at the Scenic City Invitational, hosted at Council Fire Golf Club.
Rickett's round, the lowest in the field by two strokes, helped the Mocs to a 2-under par team score for the round. The Mocs were one of two teams in the field to post a team score under par, but could not gain ground on #10 Charlotte who entered Tuesday's final round with a four shot advantage.
Rickett began the final round in a tie for 19th, but surged to the front of the field with birdies on the first three holes en route to a 5-under par 31 at the turn. The skies opened as play began on the back nine with Rickett making another birdie on the 11th in a driving rain, but gave the shot back on the next hole. Rickett then finished with six consecutive pars to record his record score. Rickett finished in a four-way tie for second at 7-under par, two strokes behind Charlotte's Cory Nagy for medalist honors.
Sophomores Fredrik Qvicker and Derek Rendre tied for eighth place at 4-under par. Tripp Harris, who led after two rounds, finished 1-under par after a closing 79 to tie for 13th.
“Ben was very focused when he came back to campus this fall and it is showing” remarked Chattanooga head coach Mark Guhne. “The conditions on the back-nine this afternoon were really bad for an hour or so and Ben did a great job of not letting his great round get away from him. That is a real indicator of his growth as a player.”
Guhne was also quick to spread the praise around. “A year ago I don't think we would have been able to go this low under par with a team as good as Charlotte. We got solid play from five players in order to contend with a team like that. 23-under par is a lot of red numbers and all five players contributed.”
The Mocs will play in the Carpet Capital Collegiate this weekend at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga. competing in an 18-team field which features 11 teams ranked in the top 25 in the GolfWorld/Nike Golf Coaches' Poll.
2007 SCENIC CITY INVITATIONAL
TEAM RESULTS
1. Charlotte 272-271-280?823 -29
2. Chattanooga 272-275-282?829 -23
3. Oklahoma 277-286-284?847 -5
4. LSU 277-286-291?854 +2
5. MTSU 281-282-294?857 +5
T6. Mississippi State 287-288-290?865 +13
T6. Ole Miss 281-300-284?865 +13
T6. SE Louisiana 285-282-298?865 +13
9. Akron 283-288-298?869 +17
10. South Florida 290-291-290?871 +19
11. Southern Miss 295-291-288?874 +22
T12. Furman 291-289-295?875 +23
T12. VCU 290-293-292?875 +23
14. Louisiana Tech 296-290-292?878 +26
15. Western Carolina 298-287-294?879 +27
16. Francis Marion 294-297-298?889 +37
17. Mercer 300-299-293?892 +40
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Corey Nagy (Charlotte) 68-68-68?204 -9
T2. Ben Rickett (Chattanooga) 72-68-66?206 -7
T2. Eric Durbin (Oklahoma) 64-72-70?206 -7
T2. Stefan Wiedergruen (Charlotte) 68-65-73?206 -7
T2. Chas Narramore (MTSU) 67-70-69?206 -7
CHATTANOOGA
T2. Ben Rickett 72-68-66?206 -7
T8. Fredrik Qvicker 69-70-70?209 -4
T8. Derek Rende 69-68-72?209 -4
T13. Tripp Harris 64-69-79?212 -1
*T17. J.T. Clendenin 73-68-72?214 +1
*T23. Tyler Neff 74-72-69?215 +2
*T26. Eric Forsman 71-69-76?216 +3
T32. Jonathan Hodge 70-73-74?217 +4
*T76. Hudson Keener 75-75-76?226 +13
*T87. Nick Blakely 70-78-84?232 +19
*competing as an individual
