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ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF
EATONTON, Ga.---The Chattanooga Mocs men's golf team kept its foot on the pedal Monday with a 9-under 279 which was the low round of the day at the Southern Conference Championships. It puts the Mocs one off the lead held by ETSU as junior
Paul Conroy surged into a tie for first at the Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
The 556 total for 36 holes is a new school record. The previous best of 10 under (556) came in 2009 which also set the standard for 54-hole total at 852 (-12). The team mark is not the only thing to drop.
Conroy's second straight 67 puts him at 10-under 134, which is also is a new program best in the event. It eclipses Jonathan Hodge's 2007 number of 137 (-7). The Irishman is 17 under over his last five cards at the Oconee Course, a 68.60 scoring average. He wasn't alone on Monday.
So are the 67s getting old?
"Is it getting old," Conroy laughed. "That's definitely not getting old. I'll take 67 every day. But yeah, it was solid again today. I played the par 5s well."
Once again, the team counted four under par rounds.
Garrett Engle shot 2-under 70 followed closely by
Braedon Wear and
Samuel Espinosa with 71 apiece.
John Houk's 73 was the drop number.
Conroy's leading total is matched by the Bucs' Mats Ege. Engle is alone in fifth at 4 under with Wear one behind in a tie for sixth. Houk is just outside the top 10 tied for 11th at 1 under. Espinosa's level par is tied for 16th.
ETSU maintains the lead for another day with 555, one clear of the good guys in second. Furman is third with 568 ahead of Mercer and Western Carolina tied for fourth at 576. UNC Greensboro sits in sixth at 583 with Wofford (586) and Samford (589) right behind.
The Mocs start day three like they have the opening two rounds, playing with the Bucs.
"It definitely ups your golf game," Conroy added when asked about the competition. "When you're playing with people who are making birdies and hitting good shots, you sort of feed off one another."
Espinosa leads off No. 1 at 8:55 followed by Houk, Wear. Engle and Conroy in 10-minute slots. Scoring and pairings are linked above along with a comprehensive results package.
Southern Conference Championships
Dates: April 23-25 (Sun-Tue) | Eatonton, Ga. | 54 holes (18 per day)
Lineup
2nd of 8: 277-279=556 (-20)
T1)
Paul Conroy: 67-67=134 (-10)
5)
Garrett Engle: 70-70=140 (-4)
T6)
Braedon Wear: 70-71=141 (-3)
T11)
John Houk: 70-73=143 (-1)
T16)
Samuel Espinosa: 73-71=144 (E)
Noteworthy
- The Mocs have posted the low round of the tournament in seven of the last eight team cards.
- Chattanooga's 2-day drop score of 146 (+2) would be tied for 21st overall.
- The Mocs have never had all five golfers finish par or better for a SoCon Championship. The closest was four in 2009's title run – Fredrik Qvicker (-5), Stephan Jaeger (-3), Ben Rickett (-2) & Derek Rende (-2).
Course
Oconee Course | Par 72 | 7,393 yards
Field
(47) Chattanooga, (33) ETSU, (59) Furman, Mercer, (48) UNC Greensboro, Samford, Western Carolina & Wofford
History
Team Finishes (44 appearances)
1st (6): 1987, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013
2nd (5): 1978, 1989, 1993, 2014, 2018
3rd (5): 1984, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2019
4th (10): 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 2005, 2016, 2017
5th (9): 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2022
6th (2): 1997, 1999
7th (5): 1985, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2021
8th (0): N/A
9th (2): 2002. 2003
Medalists (2)
1978: Donnie Green, 221 (+5)
2012: Stephan Jaeger, 207 (-9)
Runner-Up (9)
1987: Chris Schmidt/Lee Gerdes, 222 (+6)
1989: Brian Millican, 216 (E)
1997: James van de Griff, 221 (+5)
2008: Ben Rickett, 215 (-1)
2009: Fredrik Qvicker, 211 (-5)
2012: Chris Robb, 218 (+2)
2013: Steven Fox, 217 (+1)
2014: Chris Robb, 208 (-8)
Live Scoring
Golfstat
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