HPU Men’s Golf Sits in Fourth at East Bay Deli Classic

• High Point is fourth out of 15 teams and just two strokes out of third after shooting a 311 in the first day of the three-day event.
• Sophomore RJ Bartolomucci leads the Panthers and is seventh overall after carding a +2 (74) and is two strokes off the lead after 18 holes.
• Fellow sophomore Brendan MacDougall is one stroke back of his teammate (75) and is tied for eighth.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The High Point University men’s golf team fought windy conditions throughout the day and is in fourth after 18 holes at the East Bay Deli Classic in Kiawah Island S.C.

The blustery day made the Turtle Point Golf Course nearly invincible but sophomore RJ Bartolomucci had almost as much success as any player in the field finding birdies. The Hilton Head, S.C. product tallied five on the day and is in seventh after one round (74).

“The wind today brought about the most difficult playing conditions that I have seen in my playing and coaching career,” head coach Brady Gregor said. “I’m really proud of our guys because we stayed more mentally engaged in the round than we had all fall and it showed in how we posted a pretty good round. We are looking forward to tomorrow because we’re sitting in a good position and the winds are supposed to die down the next couple of days. We know you can’t win an event in the first round, but you can lose it and we are right in it with two rounds to play.”

After shooting +2 on the front-nine, Bartolomucci, collected four birdies on the back nine to shoot a 36 and finish the day +2.

Right behind Bartolomucci, sophomore Brendan MacDougall opened his day with a par and a bogey before notching one of the five eagles the 93-man field recorded on the day. Altogether, the Calgary, Alberta product shot a +3 (75) and is tied for eighth, but is just three strokes off the lead.

Senior Emile Menard finds himself tied for 25th after returning from injury to shoot a +6 (78) on the day. The fourth counter for the Panthers, junior Davis Kiger, improved by four strokes on the back nine and is tied for 62nd (84) after the first of three days in the tournament.

Tennessee leads the event through 18 holes at 298 while Rutgers is in second (304) and UT Chattanooga is third (309) and just two strokes ahead of HPU.

Rounding out the lineup, sophomore Alec Weary carded a 91 while freshman Ryan McCarthy finished his first collegiate round at 92.

The Purple & White are back out on the course tomorrow for the second round before wrapping up the East Bay Deli Classic with the third round on Tuesday morning.