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UNCG wins second straight Men's Golf Championship
PINEHURST, N.C. – UNC Greensboro turned in the best round in the Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship since 2001 to pull away from the field for its second straight team title Tuesday at the par-72, 7,118-yard Pinehurst No. 9, a Jack Nicklaus Signature course. ETSU’s Shiso Go downed UNCG’s Nick Lyerly on the second playoff hole for medalist honors and the SoCon’s automatic individual bid to the NCAA Regionals.
Go and the Spartans, who earned the SoCon's automatic team berth to the NCAA Regionals, will learn their postseason fates Wednesday, May 1. The NCAA selection show will air on the Golf Channel at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Go trailed Lyerly, the defending champion, by one stroke entering Tuesday’s final round but fired a 6-under-par 66 on the day, birdieing 17 to take a two-stroke lead on the day and a one-stroke lead for the tournament entering the final hole of regulation. Lyerly answered with a birdie on 18 to complete his 5-under 67, forcing the playoff between the duo, who were paired together for the final round.
The twosome both birdied No. 10 to force another playoff hole and headed back to the tee box on 10 to settle it. Lyerly put his second shot in the water and finished with bogey, while Go parred the hole to give the Bucs their third individual champion in the last four seasons, a streak interrupted only by Lyerly last season.
Both shot 11-under 205 for the tournament. Go had just one bogey over 54 holes, posting 12 birdies and a tournament-best 41 pars. Lyerly posted a tournament-leading 18 birdies over 54 holes.
In the team race, UNCG held a four-stroke advantage over ETSU heading into Tuesday but torched the course for a 12-under 276, the best round in SoCon tournament play since Georgia Southern and ETSU both posted 275s in the 2001 edition. That pushed the Spartans’ three-day total to 11-under 853, the best team score in the tourney since Furman shot 849 in 2010.
All four of UNCG’s counting scores posted par or better Tuesday, while Bryce Hendrix, who tied for sixth for the tournament, had the drop score with a 2-over 74. Sophomore Zack Swanson, the round-one leader, finished third at 5-under 211, matching Lyerly with a 5-under 67 Tuesday. Jonathan Brightwell gave UNCG four finishers in the top 10, as he tied for 10th at 5-over 221 and posted an even-par 72 in the final round.
UNCG’s Terrance Stewart was named the SoCon Coach of the Year for the second straight season after leading the Spartans to consecutive titles for the first time in school history.
ETSU also posted a sub-par team round Tuesday, shooting a collective 4-under 284 to finish at 1-over 865. In addition to Go’s 66, the Bucs got a 2-under 70 from Trevor Hulbert, who tied for fourth at 2-under 214.
There was little movement in the team scores on the final day. Chattanooga and Furman stayed put at third and fourth, while Mercer dropped out of a tie for fourth into fifth. Wofford stayed steady at sixth, followed by Samford and Western Carolina.
The Mocs and Paladins both shot 4-over 292 on the day. UTC had a trio of top-10 finishers, led by Oliver Simsonsen’s fourth-place finish. He shot 2-over 74 Tuesday to finish at 2-under 214. Lake Johnson and Will Porter were part of a five-way tie for 10th at 5-over 221. Porter shot 2-under 70 Tuesday.
Furman saw Keller Harper and Stephen Reynolds finish amongst a four-way tie for sixth at 4-over 220. Harper, who was named the SoCon Player of the Year for the second straight season, shot an even-par 72 Tuesday to jump nine spots in the standings.
Mercer landed two in the top 10, as well, as Tyler Copp tied for sixth after a 1-over 73 and Lino Galdin jumped 11 spots into a tie for 10th with a 1-under 71.
Wofford’s Ryan Marter also jumped 11 spots into the tie for 10th, shooting a 1-under 71 Tuesday to finish at 221.
Furman’s Jack Crosby was voted the SoCon Freshman of the Year, while UNCG’s Lyerly won the Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.
2019 Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship
Pinehurst No. 9
Par 72, 7,118 yards
Pinehurst, N.C.
Team results
Place Team Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Total
1. UNCG 283 294 276 853
2. ETSU 289 292 284 865
3. Chattanooga 296 287 292 875
4. Furman 294 294 292 880
5. Mercer 289 299 293 881
6. Wofford 304 299 299 902
7. Samford 297 313 299 909
8. Western Carolina 313 314 306 933
Individual leaders
Place Team Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Total
T1. Shiso Go, ETSU 69 70 66 205
T1. Nick Lyerly, UNCG 69 69 67 205
3. Zack Swanson, UNCG 68 76 67 211
T4. Oliver Simonsen, Chattanooga 72 68 74 214
T4. Trevor Hulbert, ETSU 73 71 70 214
T6. Keller Harper, Furman 71 77 72 220
T6. Stephen Reynolds, Furman 75 69 76 220
T6. Bryce Hendrix, UNCG 74 72 74 220
T6. Tyler Copp, Mercer 73 74 73 220
T10. Will Porter, Chattanooga 78 73 70 221
T10. Lake Johnson, Chattanooga 74 73 74 221
T10. Jonathan Brightwell, UNCG 72 77 72 221
T10. Lino Galdin, Mercer 70 80 71 221
T10. Ryan Marter, Wofford 78 72 71 221
SoCon Player of the Year
Keller Harper, Jr., Furman
SoCon Freshman of the Year
Jack Crosby, Furman
SoCon Coach of the Year
Terrance Stewart, UNCG
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Nick Lyerly, So., UNCG
All-Southern Conference
Shiso Go, So., ETSU
Jack Rhea, So., ETSU
Keller Harper, Jr., Furman
Stanton Schorr, Sr., Mercer
Jonathan Brightwell, Jr., UNCG
Nick Lyerly, So., UNCG
Bryce Hendrix, Sr., UNCG
Oliver Simonsen, R-So., Chattanooga
Harlan Winn, Jr., Samford
Walker Simas, Jr., Wofford
All-freshman team
Jack Crosby, Furman
Martin Plukka, Mercer
Tumi Kúld, Western Carolina
Matthew Copeland, Wofford
Walker Jones, Wofford