High Point University Men’s Golf’s Adam Hooker Two Strokes Behind Leader after Day One of Wexford Intercollegiate

Site: Hilton Head, S.C.
Course: Arnold Palmer Signature at Wexford Plantation (Par 72, 6,913 yards)
Tournament: Wexford Intercollegiate
HPU Team Standing: 4th of 18 teams (293-290-583, +7)
Top HPU Individual: Adam Hooker T-3rd (69-70-139, -5)
Next HPU Round: Tuesday, Feb. 25 — at Wexford Intercollegiate (Hilton Head, S.C.), 8:15 a.m.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Two members of the High Point University men’s golf team sit under par and in the top-10 of the Wexford Intercollegiate after day one on the Arnold Palmer Signature Course at Wexford Plantation on Monday (Feb. 24). Sophomore Adam Hooker leads the Panthers at five-under for a share of third place while senior Brendan MacDougall is close behind at two-under in a tie for ninth.

“I’m super excited the way the guys came out in their first tournament of the spring,” head coach Brady Gregor said after the day. “We had all five balls in play so all five scores were counting for us right up to the last few holes of the first round.”

The team ended the day in fourth place at +7, two shots behind Davidson in third and 13 strokes off the lead. Three different Panthers ended the day with an eagle and freshman Zach Brown carded two of them, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Hooker was tied for first place after the first round, carding a 69 in the morning. He started with a birdie on his starting hole, hole 5, and then birdied eight before doubling nine to head to the back at even par. Hooker birdied three of the first six holes on the back and parred everything else to finish three-under with the 69.

He came out in the afternoon and started the same way he did in the morning, with a birdie on the fifth hole, followed by two more birdies in his next five holes to get to six-under for the tournament. That led to an interesting four-hole stretch where he gave back the two strokes with back-to-back bogeys, followed by an eagle-two that he drained from 85 yards out to washout the bogeys.

The two strokes came back on the next hole with a double bogey on a par-5 to send him back to just one-under in the second round. Hooker was able to get one of those strokes back before the day was done, picking up two birdies and a bogey over holes 1-3 and a par on the fourth hole to end his round with a 70 and at -5 for the tournament.

“Awesome play from Adam today, shooting a career-low 69, three-under, in round one,” Gregor said of his sophomore’s performance. “He only had one mistake in the second round or otherwise he would’ve been leading this thing. He’s two back and this will be some great experience for him trying to chase down his first collegiate win.”

MacDougall had a relatively tame opening round of the tournament, parring 13 of the 18 holes in the morning round. He started on the fourth hole and bogeyed five before making the turn to the back at even thanks to a birdie on eight. Consistent on the back, the senior picked up birdies on both of the par-5s and came back to the front at -2 before a bogey on the par-3 third ended his round at one-under.

Starting on the fourth again, MacDougall birdied both of the par-5s on the front but bogeyed the ninth to head to the back at one-under. He bogeyed 12 but bounced back with three straight birdies on 14-16 to get to three-under. However, a double on hole one sent him back to one-under for the second-straight round to enter tomorrow at -2.

MacDougall took full advantage of the par-5s on the course, finishing the day -5 on the long ones. It wasn’t just MacDougall taking advantage of the par-5s as the team, aptly calling themselves the bomb squad, went -16 on the par-5s today, a full 10 strokes better than the next closest school at -6.

“We completely dominated the par-5s and that’s what really kept us toward the top of the leaderboard,” Gregor continued. “We just missed out on being in that final grouping but we hope the rain holds off so we can mount a charge and keep moving up tomorrow.”

Brandon Einstein was playing in the two spot for HPU today and shot a 76 in the first round of the day. He started his round off with a bogey on the fourth before recovering with an eagle on the par-5 fifth. He made the turn at one-over but bogeyed the 10th and picked up two doubles on the back to finish the round four-over. The sophomore bounced back with a 74 in the afternoon, birdieing three of his first nine holes with two bogeys mixed in before picking up three bogeys for in the final nine of the day, finishing the first day at six-over.

Classmate Drew Weary finished the day two strokes behind Einstein at +8. He shot five-over in the morning and followed up with a 75 in the afternoon. Brown was High Point’s fifth golfer in the event and the freshman tallied an eagle in both of his rounds, eagling the par-5 15th in the morning and then the par-4 16th in the afternoon.

Augusta leads after day one at six-under, with three golfers in the top-15, including current leader Ben van Wyk at -7. Furman is the only other school to enter the final round under par, shooting four-under through the two rounds on day one. HPU leads all Big South schools, with the next closest being Gardner-Webb, seven shots back at +14 in sixth place.

High Point is back in action tomorrow (Feb. 25) for the final round of the Wexford Intercollegiate. Play resumes with an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start and the Panthers will be playing with golfers from Wofford and Gardner-Webb.