HPU Men’s Golf Panthers continue top-10 streak with strong finish at Phoenix Invitational

• High Point shot 284 (E) on the final day to move up to eighth and finish in the top-10 for the fourth straight time to start the season.
• Freshman Brendan MacDougall continued his solid start to his career with a -3 (68) to finish the event tied for 12th (71, 70, 68, -4).
• Freshman RJ Bartolomucci rounded out the weekend with a -1 (70) in the third round.

BURLINGTON, N.C. – The High Point University men’s golf team carded a 284 (E) at the Phoenix Invitational on Tuesday to earn its fourth straight top-10 finish to begin the season.

Once again, it was freshman Brendan MacDougall at the top of the leaderboard for the Panthers finishing in a tie for 12th thanks to a -3 (68) on the final day.

The Purple & White struggled in the first round (297, +13), before bouncing back with a 297 (-5) and a 284 (E) to move up to eighth.

“I’m really pleased with the way the team came out and played today as we moved up the leaderboard,” head coach Brady Gregor said. “I’ve been talking about the fight this team has and this tournament proved it. We were in last place after round one, but we fought back to the middle of the pack. What you’re seeing is really good team golf. Brendan has been really consistent with his play this year, but this is a total team effort and I look forward to see where we go from here.”

The Calgary, Alberta product was two-under after six holes, but then posted a double-bogey to move back to even. However, MacDougall showed the tenacity HPU carried in the event bouncing back with an eagle on the next hole. From there, he wouldn’t look back posting nine pars and a birdie in his final 10 holes.

Another freshman, RJ Bartolomucci, joined MacDougall under par firing a -1 (70). The Hilton Head, S.C. native stayed consistent throughout the round carding three birdies and two bogeys. The solid third round allowed the freshman to recover from a tough day on Monday to finish in a tie for 61st (79, 72, 70, +8).

For the second consecutive round, sophomore Christian Casingal shot a 71 (E) on Tuesday. The Charleston, W. Va. product was three-under at the turn, but couldn’t stay under en route to a tied for 57th (78, 71, 71, +7).

Junior Emile Menard and freshman Alec Weary entered the day tied and finished the final round tied for 46th overall with matching 75s. In his first action of the year, Menard couldn’t duplicate his -3 (68) tally from the second round finishing at 218 (+5). Meanwhile, Weary finished strong shooting two-under in the final 11 holes of the event (73, 70, 75, +5).

HPU finished with a three-round score of 880 (+8), which is a 46-stroke improvement from the team’s total last season. Big South foe Gardner-Webb won the event shooting 830 (-22) in the 56 holes.

The Panthers are back in action on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 22-23) in the Camden Collegiate Invitational hosted by South Carolina at the Camden Country Club.