HPU men’s golf, Weary in the top-five at the Bash at the Beach

• Freshman Alec Weary carded one of the nine sub-par rounds in the event and is tied for fourth through 36 holes (70, 73; +1).
• Freshman Brendan MacDougall is tied for sixth in the field with six birdies on the day and sits in a tie for 11th after firing back-to-back 73s.
• High Point finished the first day at the Bash at the Beach in fifth place and just eight strokes behind the leader – South Carolina Beaufort.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Behind a solid day from freshman Alec Weary, the High Point University men’s golf team is fifth through 36 holes at the Bash at the Beach tournament held at The Surf Golf and Beach Club.

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Weary opened the day with a -1 (70), which was one of the nine sub-par rounds in the event on Monday. The Bluffton, S.C. product followed that up with a 73 (+2) in the second round and finished the day tied for fourth and three strokes behind the co-leaders.

“Going into today we knew it was going to rain a majority of the time, so as a team we wanted to focus on what we could control and that was our attitude and mindset,” head coach Brady Gregor said. “The team did a great job of tuning out the elements and staying focused no matter how nasty the weather got and that shows me growth. I’m proud of their performance today.”

The Purple & White showed their firepower placing second in par-5 scoring (4.83) and in birdies (23). HPU opened the event with a 291 (+7), which was the fourth-best round of the day. The squad followed that up with a 298 in the afternoon when 12 of the 16 teams in the field shot a higher score.

Including Weary, the Purple & White have three freshmen heading into the final day ranked in the top-15 of the tournament.

Freshmen Brendan MacDougall posted a consistent performance on day one firing consecutive rounds with a score of 73 (+1). The Calgary, Alberta native is tied for sixth with six birdies through two rounds and ranks tied for 11th overall (73, 73; +2).

Rounding out the trio of youngsters, freshman RJ Bartolomucci is tied for 15th in the field of 96 golfers. Playing in his home state, Bartolomucci opened the day with a +1 (72) and followed that up with a +2 (73).

Sitting in a tie for 39th, redshirt-junior AJ Hopkins has 24 pars through two rounds (75, 77; +10). Meanwhile, junior Emile Menard shot 77 in the opening round and followed that with an 80 on the second trip around the course.

The Panthers will be back out on the course on Tuesday for the third and final round at the par-71 course.