High Point Men’s Golf Finishes Ninth in AGT Intercollegiate

Site: Kiawah Island, S.C.
Course: Oak Point Golf Course (Par 72, 6,701 yards)
Tournament: AGT Intercollegiate
HPU Team Standing: 9th of 10 teams (292-303-290-885, +21)
Top HPU Individual: Brandon Einstein, T-12th (70-75-68-213, -3)
Next HPU Round: Tuesday, Jan. 26 — at AGT Intercollegiate (Kiawah Island, S.C.)

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The High Point University men’s golf team turned in its best round of the Any Given Tuesday Intercollegiate on the final day of the event on Tuesday (Jan. 26), finishing in ninth place as a team. The Panthers were led by redshirt sophomore Brandon Einstein’s 68, tied for the third-lowest round of the day.

“The boys went into the week with high hopes on a good finish,” head coach Brady Gregor said at the tournament’s conclusion. “It was our first 54-hole tournament back but we didn’t get the representation that we wanted. Luckily we have a quick turnaround and head down to Florence in February where we hope to compete to win.”

The Panthers started on the back for the third consecutive round on Tuesday and Einstein made the turn on without carding a bogey and picking up two birdies. He took advantage of the par-5 12th for the third time in the tournament for his first birdie of the day and then stuck one close to birdie the par-3 15th. The Clemmons, N.C. native heated up on the front, recording three birdies in the first five holes. He birdied the par-3 second and then put up back-to-back red numbers on holes four and five before suffering his only blemish of the day with a bogey on six. Einstein parred the remaining three holes to finish his round at four-under and end the tournament at -3.

Graduate student Alec Weary was the next-best finisher in the tournament for the Purple and White, coming in 44th place and firing a 73 in the final round. Like Einstein, he made his first move on the 12th hole, part of a stretch of three birdies in four holes. Weary made it back-to-back birdies with one on 13 and then put his tee shot to five feet on 15. He hit a minor setback on 17 with a double bogey but still made the turn at one-under. Weary made birdie on the first hole after an aggressive tee shot on the par-5 but the rest of the front wasn’t as kind to him as he bogeyed the second and took another double in the round with one on five to finish at one-over on the day.

Grady Newton finished one place and one stroke behind Weary in the final standings and had High Point’s second-best round of the day with 72, featuring a team-high six birdies. The freshman’s round didn’t start how he’d like, with back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11. He got back to even with a pair of birds on 13 and 14 but made the turn at one-over after a bogey on 17. Newton started the front with two pars but hopped on the birdie train on hole three, putting up red numbers on three consecutive holes to get to two-under. A pair of bogeys on six and seven sent him back to even and a birdie on eight and a bogey on nine kept him there for a 72 and his best round of the tournament.

Ryan McCarthy and Adam Hooker entered day three tied at eight-over and the graduate student McCarthy edged the redshirt sophomore Hooker by one stroke when the round had ended. McCarty was the only golfer of the two to record a birdie on Tuesday, making one on the par-5 first. Redshirt freshman Christian Castillo carded two birdies in round three but ran into some bogeys on the front to finish the round with a 77.

Coastal Carolina and Kennesaw State entered the day tied for the team lead but the Chanticleers ran away with the title on day three, winning by 13 strokes over the Owls. Coastal also took home individual honors with States Fort winning by four strokes at -11.

High Point is back in action next weekend in South Carolina with the Rains Development Intercollegiate hosted by Francis Marion University next Saturday (Feb. 6) and Sunday (Feb. 7). 36 holes are scheduled for day one at the Country Club of South Carolina with the event concluding with 18 holes on Sunday in Florence, S.C.