BRASELTON, Ga. – Sophomore Christian Casingal finished fifth (72-72, E) to lead the High Point University men’s golf team at the Bridgestone Match Play Invitational on Monday.
Casingal showed great consistency on the par 72, 7,002-yard Chateau Elan Legends Course racking up 24 pars (t-5th) and six birdies in 36 holes of play. The Charleston, W. Va. native led the Panthers to a fifth-place finish with a 609 (306-303).
“Today was an emotional day being my head coaching debut,” head coach Brady Gregor continued of the team’s first tournament. “Obviously, we are disappointed because we had a goal to finish in the top four so we could compete to win the tournament in match play tomorrow. But I was proud of our guys and how they kept battling and we are excited to compete tomorrow and look to gain valuable experience for our young lineup.”
After a slow start the first time around the course, redshirt-junior A.J. Hopkins fired a +1 (73) on the second 18 holes. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. product finished the day with three birdies in his final seven holes to build momentum for Tuesday’s match play.
In the first round, freshman Brendan MacDougall carded a +4 and finished the day t-24th (76-81, +12) while racking up 21 pars (t-11th).
Freshman Alec Weary, who completed 36 holes with a +13 (78, 81), highlighted his first collegiate round with an eagle on the ninth hole, a whole that he finished -3 for the day. Meanwhile, freshman RJ Bartolomucci rounded out the scoring with a +19 (79, 84) in his HPU debut.
Playing as an individual, sophomore Davis Kiger carded +19 (81-82) as he prepared to take part in match play on Tuesday.
High Point will be back in action on Tuesday morning in match play against Big South foe Presbyterian College. All six of the Panthers will take part in the match play competition against the Blue Hoes starting at 8 a.m.