ETSU wins second straight Men?s Golf Championship

PINEHURST, N.C. – ETSU emerged from a tight multiple-team race to claim its record 19th Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship on Tuesday at the par-72, 7,091-yard Pinehurst No. 9. The Bucs’ Adrian Meronk shot a 3-under 69 on the final day of the tournament to claim a one-shot win in the individual race.

The Bucs claimed the SoCon’s automatic bid to an NCAA Regional and will learn their postseason destination on Thursday, May 5, when the NCAA field is announced on the Golf Channel at 9:30 a.m.

ETSU, Furman, UNCG, Chattanooga and Wofford were all in contention on the final day, with all but the Mocs claiming at least a share of the lead at some point. In the end, it was the Bucs that emerged victorious, doing just enough on a day that saw higher scores across the board to claim their second straight title. ETSU turned in an 11-over-par 299 in the third round and finished at 12-over 876.

Meronk, who was named the SoCon Player of the Year for the second straight season, posted four birdies earned medalist honors with a 3-under 69 Tuesday, bringing his three-day total to 6-under 210 (72-69-69). He was chasing Wofford’s Jeremy Grab for the duration of the tournament and finally caught the Terrier junior – with whom he was paired Tuesday – when Grab posted a double-bogey on the 18th hole to drop a stroke behind Meronk into a tie for second.

The Bucs also got a boost from Mateusz Gradecki, who finished in a tie for fifth with a 1-over 217 for the tournament, and all-conference selection Gudmundur Kristjansson, who tied for 10th at 4-over 220. Gradecki turned in a 2-over 74 Tuesday, while Kristjansson finished at 3-over.

UNCG finished as the runner-up to ETSU for the second straight season after falling in a playoff in 2015. UNCG turned in an 8-over 296 to finish at 13-over for the tournament but could only wait from the clubhouse to see whether the Bucs slipped back down the leaderboard.

The Spartans got a top-10 finish from Josh Stockwell, who shot a 2-over 74 Tuesday to finish in a tie for seventh at 3-over 219.

Furman finished three strokes back of ETSU at 15-over 879 after turning in an 8-over 296 in the third round. Junior Bryce Howell, who briefly held the individual lead during the third round, finished his day with a 2-under 70 for a three-day total of 5-under 211 to share runner-up honors with Wofford’s Grab. Paladin teammate Wehman Hopke tied for seventh at 3-over 219 despite a 5-over 77 Tuesday.

Chattanooga finished fourth, also shooting 8-over as a team Tuesday to finish at 882. The Mocs were paced by a career-best fourth-place finish by redshirt junior Kory Webb, who signed for a 1-under 71 in the final round to push his tournament total to 2-under 214. Wes Gosselin tied for 10th after a 2-over 74 brought his three-day score to 4-over 220.

Day-two leader Wofford dropped to fifth with a 20-over 308 Tuesday, finishing at 884, two strokes back of Chattanooga. In addition to Grab’s second-place finish, the Terriers also got a seventh-place finish from Andrew Novak (75-67-77=219).

Western Carolina finished sixth at 895, buoyed by a fifth-place finish by freshman Mark David Johnson. Johnson shot a 74 on the final day of the tournament to finish at 1-over 217.

Samford (313-296-296=905) and Mercer (303-315-300=918) rounded out the team scoring.

UNCG’s Bryce Hendrix was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year and ETSU’s Fred Warren and Wofford’s Vic Lipscomb shared Coach of the Year honors in balloting of the coaches, who also named an all-conference and all-freshman team.

2016 Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship
Pinehurst No. 9
Par 72, 7,091 yards
Pinehurst, N.C.

Team results
Place Team Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Total
1 ETSU 287 290 299 876
2 UNCG 295 286 296 877
3 Furman 290 293 296 879
4 Chattanooga 292 294 296 882
5 Wofford 291 285 308 884
6 Western Carolina 306 292 297 895
7 Samford 313 296 296 905
8 Mercer 303 315 300 918

Individual leaders
Place Team Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Total
1 Adrian Meronk, ETSU 72 69 69 210
T2 Bryce Howell, Furman 70 71 70 211
T2 Jeremy Grab, Wofford 68 71 72 211
4 Kory Webb, Chattanooga 71 72 71 214
T5 Mateusz Gradecki, ETSU 70 73 74 217
T5 Mark David Johnson, Western Carolina 72 71 74 217
T7 Josh Stockwell, UNCG 75 70 74 219
T7 Wehman Hopke, Furman 72 70 77 219
T7 Andrew Novak, Wofford 75 67 77 219
T10 Wes Gosselin, Chattanooga 74 72 74 220
T10 Gudmundur Kristjansson, ETSU 74 71 75 220

SoCon Player of the Year
Adrian Meronk, ETSU

SoCon Freshman of the Year
Bryce Hendrix, UNCG

SoCon Co-Coaches of the Year
Fred Warren, ETSU
Vic Lipscomb, Wofford

All-Southern Conference
Gudmundur Kristjansson, ETSU
Adrian Meronk, ETSU
Preston Cole, Furman
Wehman Hopke, Furman
Taylor Coalson, UNCG
Jake McGlone, UNCG
Zach Hughes, Samford
Wes Gosselin, Chattanooga
Jeremy Grab, Wofford
Andrew Novak, Wofford

SoCon All-Freshman
Geuntae Kim, ETSU
Connor Bruns, Furman
Bryce Hendrix, UNCG
Aaron Walker, Samford
Lake Johnson, Chattanooga

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