NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – The No. 13 Washington and Lee men's golf team tied for second place at the NCAA DIII Men's Fall Preview after completing the three round, 54-hole tournament on Tuesday afternoon.
Hosted by Transylvania University at the Keene Trace Golf Club, the Generals carded a team score of 296, 298 and 306 to finish 36 over par (900). Round one took place at the Keene Run GC while rounds two and three were at Champions Trace over the three day period.
The Blue and White never dropped below third place in team scoring during the event. On opening day, the wind was consistently clocking speeds of 15 miles per hour with gusts reaching as high as 30mph. On the back nine, the squad shot a field-best five under par and ended the round just five shots behind the leader, No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan despite the weather conditions. The Titan's 191 (+3) round proved to be the lowest scoring performance over the preview and No. 10 Wittenberg matched that effort in the final push on day three.
A 298 (+10) tally for W&L on the second day, along with the initial 296 (+8) card put the Generals in the top-two slots going into the homestretch. Fifth-ranked Christopher Newport University jumped up from the fifth spot to first place (+17) over the second 18. Washington and Lee finished the day one stroke behind the Captains and nine in front of top-ranked Methodist University.
On the Champions course, senior captain
Pierce Robinson (Kings Mountain, N.C. / Thomas Jefferson Classical), who ended the event tied for seventh in individual scoring, shot the second-lowest round of the preview with a three-under par on Monday. Robinson signed the final scorecard at 77-69-75—221(+5), tying with No. 2 Emory's Michael Burry and MU's Johnny Lewis. Over the three days, Robinson notched 10 birdies and recorded an eagle.
On the final day of competition, the Generals lost their groove (75-77-78-76-80—306) which allowed MU, Wittenberg, and No. 4 Carnegie Mellon to slide up the team leader board and shared the second slot with the Blue and White. CNU maintained its position throughout the final round and won the team title 299-294-293—886 (+22). Alex Price 71-67-71—209 (-7) brought home the individual hardware for the Captains.
Owen Malcolm (Atlanta, Ga./ Holy Innocents' Episcopal) led the Blue and White in par five scoring with an average of 4.67 strokes on those 12 holes.
Walker McPhail (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) recorded even on the hole 33 times, a team-high.
The field featured 18 schools and 90 total individuals. Of those teams, 16 programs are ranked in the Bushnell/Golf Week Division III Coaches Poll top-25.
Washington and Lee returns to the tee box in Atlanta, Ge. next weekend for the Royal Lakes Invitational hosted by Oglethorpe University on Monday and Tuesday, October 10-11.
