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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz---The Chattanooga Mocs finished the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf Championships Sunday afternoon with a 5-over 285 at Grayhawk Golf Club. The solid score moved the Mocs up into a tie for 23rd missing the cut for Monday's final round of stroke play.
 
It was an afternoon wave that waved goodbye in large part with few chances to move up into the top 15 which played in the morning. The Mocs put together a splendid performance tying for the second-best total of the afternoon behind Ohio State's 284.
 
"I'm really proud of the fight in the guys today," Coach Blaine Woodruff shared. "It's tough because you come out and you're pushing to be in the top 15 at the end of today and then into match play. When you're out of it, it's a little bit tricky.
 
"We talked about it yesterday. We still had a lot to play for and beat some really good teams. So they were pretty fired up and posted the second-lowest round of the afternoon.
 
It saw the Mocs beat three top 25 teams in No. 18 Mississippi State (1 shot), No. 19 Oregon (3) and No. 22 Colorado State (6) while tying BYU. Other wins included New Mexico (1), ETSU (7) and Baylor (14). Duke was one ahead in 22nd.
 
Braedon Wear led the way with a 2-under 68. It was the low card of the tournament by a Moc. Garrett Engle shot 71 with twin 73s for John Houk and Samuel Espinosa. Paul Conroy had the drop score with 75.
 
Engle paced the team with 219. That included the three of the day. The 156-player field played 18 at 4.67 (+0.67) which proved to be the toughest hole on the course yielding a solitary birdie…yep, you guessed it, to Engle.
 
Espinosa was next at 220 ahead of Conroy's 223. Houk and Wear tied at 224.
 
This completes the Mocs amazing season. The group was ranked No. 135 in the country at this time last year. It's now poised for a possible top 40 finish which would the first since 2012 (No. 27) when it also completed its season at the NCAA Championships.
 
"It shows you how hard these guys worked," Woodruff added about year one. "They bought in to what we were trying to do and the culture we wanted for our program. It was really special to see how they came together and to see it end here says a lot about what we're about and where we're going."
 
The group posted four wins, second most in school history. Paul Conroy and John Houk added individual ones as well at N.C. State and Wofford, respectively. It ended with the program's third trip to the finals.
 
NCAA Championships - Finals
May 26-31 (Fri-Wed) | Scottsdale, Ariz. | 72 holes (18 per day)
 
Lineup
T23rd of 30: 294-300-285=879
Garrett Engle: T74, 75-73-71=219
Samuel Espinosa: T81, 72-75-73=220
Paul Conroy: T111, 70-78-75=223
John Houk: T115, 77-74-73=224
Braedon Wear: T115, 77-79-68=224
 
Course
Grayhawk Golf Cub | Par 70 | 7,289 yards
 
Field
(30 teams + 6 Individuals): (28 Seed) Chattanooga, (1) Vanderbilt), (2) North Carolina, (3) Illinois, (4) Arizona State, (5) Texas Tech, (6) Stanford, (7) Florida State, (8) Pepperdine, (9) Florida, (10) Oklahoma, (11) Georgia Tech, (12) Auburn, (13), Texas A&M, (14) Alabama, (15) Virginia, (16) Texas, (17) Mississippi State, (18) Oregon, (19) Colorado State, (20) Colorado State, (21) Georgia, (22) Arkansas, (23) Baylor, (24) Duke, (25) ETSU, (26) BYU, (27) San Francisco, (29) New Mexico & (30) Colorado. Indys: (1) Drew Salyers, Indiana; (2) Jonas Baumgartner (Oklahoma State); (3) Riley Lewis, Loyola Marymount; (4) Luke O'Neill, Kansas State; (5) Sam Lape, Furman; (6) Will King, Kansas
 
History
5th appearance: 1993 (Neil Connolly), 2009, 2012, 2014 (Chris Robb), 2023
 
Cuts Made: 2014 (Chris Robb)
 
Top 15s (1)
2014: 15, Chris Robb – 69-75-64=208 (-2)
 
Live Scoring
Golfstat
 
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