AUGUSTA, Ga.---A final round 282 (-6) provided the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team with a second-place finish in the Administaff Augusta State Invitational played at Forest Hills Golf Club. The Mocs were led by Derek Rende who finished second individually as well.
Augusta State ran away with the title on its home course with a 54-hole total of 828 (-36). ASU shot a 277 (-11) Sunday to claim a 13-stroke victory. The Mocs finished at 23-under par, 841, with three sub-par rounds for the weekend. Kent State finished third at 843 (-21).
ASU's Taylor Floyd won medalist honors with a 14-under par total of 202. Floyd shot a final round 67 (-5) to win by four strokes over Rende. Rende shot rounds of 66, 69 and 71 to shoot 10 under (206).
Chattanooga got off to an “even” start on Sunday. Rende and Stephan Jaeger both turned in 35, one-under par, while Jonathan Hodge, Ben Rickett and Fredrik Qvicker each shot 37 (+1). The Mocs were tied for second with a surging Kent State squad at 17-under par.
The Mocs made a move to open the back nine shooting five-under par on holes 10-12 to move into sole position of second. UTC carded a few more birdies on the way in to clinch second, its best finish since winning the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic in September.
Rende's 71 featured three birdies against two bogeys. He scored 13 birdies for the weekend en route to his second-place finish.
Jaeger led the Mocs for the final round with a 69 (-3) to finish tied for 39th at even par, 216. Jaeger was two-under for the day through 15 before a bogey four on 16 dropped him to one under. Back-to-back birdies closed his round to complete his 69. Jaeger carded five birdies on his round.
It was a slow start to the day for Qvicker. He was two over through eight holes before rattling off four birdies in five holes to get to two under. A bogey and birdie on the way in gave him a 70 for the round and 211 for the tournament. His five-under par finish gave him a tie for 12th overall.
Rickett and Hodge each shot 72 (E). Rickett finished tied for 18th at 212 (-4), while Hodge tied for 36th at 215 (-1). Hodge led the Mocs with 39 pars in 54 holes.
Redshirt freshman Hudson Keener carded a 75 (+3) playing as an individual. Keener finished tied for 78th with a nine-over par 225.
The Mocs are off until April 19-21 when they travel to the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence for the Southern Conference Championship. The three-day event is 54 holes, 18 per day. Chattanooga is the two-time defending champion.
NOTES:
>Chattanooga shot -11 on the front nine and -16 on the back, seven under on Sunday alone. This is based on the low four scores for the particular side each round.
>Chattanooga beat the likes of No. 12 Tennessee by 18 shots, No. 20 UCF by eight, Duke by 12, SoCon-rival Georgia Southern by 24 and Virginia Tech by 21.
>Today's 282 give the Mocs nine par or better rounds in 2008-09.
>The low drop score of the season entering this weekend was a 73 by Derek Rende (round one) and Jonathan Hodge (round three) at the Aldila Scenic City Invitational. The Mocs dropped even par rounds of 72 in the first and second round this weekend.
>Rende registered just three bogeys for the tournament while scoring 13 birdies.
>Nine of the 17 teams shot par or better in the first round...all 17 teams bettered par in round two...just seven of 17 finished par or better for the final round. In total, 10 teams finished par or better for 54 holes.
>Scoring breakdown (1st round/2nd/3rd): Eagles 0 (0/0), Birdies 61 (22/17/22), Pars 171 (61/57/53), Bogeys 35 (7/14/14), Double Bogeys 3 (0/2/1), Others 0 (0/0/0).
