TAZEWELL, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's golf team shot a 10-under 278 to win the 2015 State Farm Intercollegiate at Woodlake Golf Club to knock off host Lincoln Memorial by one-stroke and two Eagles finished in the top-five on the leaderboard.
The Eagles entered the round two-strokes off the leading Railsplitters and shot three strokes lower than LMU for their first tournament win since the 2014 South Atlantic Conference Championship.
Junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) fired a career-low 65, which tied senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) for the second-lowest round in Carson-Newman history, to finish the tournament in fourth; Hall continued his stretch of top-five finishes with a third-place showing.
"This is a great win for the Eagles today against one of our fierce rivals, LMU, on their home golf course," coach Randy Wylie said. "We came from behind with a strong finish to win by one. Dalton Reese finished with a career-low 65 with an eagle on his 16th hole and birdies on his 17th and 18th holes. Another excellent tournament by Andrew Hall showing great senior leadership. It is been great for me personally to watch our guys on the team grow the last three weeks as we've established ourselves on a national level then contend for a championship and then, when you close the deal. It's been a pretty good run!"
Hall fired his second-consecutive round of 67 on Tuesday in a round that featured six birdies and just one bogey. The senior birdied five of his last eight holes and each of his final two holes to cap the round; he recorded 15 birdies, which tied him for third in the field. He finished the tournament at 10-under 206.
Reese's final round score of 65 finished with an eagle and two birdies during his final three holes to record his career-low round.The junior played the back nine holes at five-under for his best finish of the season. Reese finished the event at two-under on par-fours and recorded 14 birdies over the three rounds. He finished at six-under 210 for his fourth-place showing.
Senior Jace Devault (Bluff City, Tenn.) and freshman Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) tied for 17th at two-over 218. Devault opened his round with a birdie and two more later on as he shot a 74 on Tuesday. The senior shot three-under on par-fives and averaged 4.75 strokes over the three rounds. Headrick used countered four bogies with three birdies for a final-round 73. The freshman had the third-lowest score among all Eagles on par-fours at one-under.
Senior Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) rounded the Carson-Newman team with a 73 on Tuesday and finished the event in a tie for 20th at four-over 220. Kennedy's round of 73 was his second-straight after shooting one-over in Monday's second round. The Canadian tallied three birdies in the final round.
Freshman Alex Hutson (Newport, Tenn.) was the highest-finishing individual as he placed 16th at one-over 217 for the tournament. He tallied his career-low round on Tuesday with a 69 and used a stretch of four birdies over six holes to shoot below 70 for the first time in his career.
Freshman Anthony Marcinelli (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished in a tie for 31st at six-over 222 in his first collegiate tournament and carded a 74 during his final round. Marcinelli was the lone Eagle to have two eagles in the tournament as the freshman shot a two on the par-four second. Senior Nathan Hodge finished in 63rd at 20-over 236; Hodge's final round of 78 featured one birdie.
Carson-Newman finished a stroke better than LMU and Queens (N.C.) finished 14 strokes off the Eagles in third. Tusculum's Brad Hawkins won the individual medalist honor by a stroke over Sam Broadhurst from LMU. Hall and Reese placed third and fourth respectively and Walter State's Jacob Sherlin rounded out the top-five.
The Eagles finish their fall schedule on Oct. 26th and 27th at the McDonough Cup at Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando, Fla.
1 Carson-Newman 290-282-278 850 (-14)
3 Andrew Hall 72-67-67 206 (-10)
4 Dalton Reese 71-74-65 210 (-6)
16 Alex Hutson 71-77-69 217 (+1)
T17 Jace Devault 73-71-74 218 (+2)
T17 Jake Headrick 74-71-73 218 (+2)
T20 Nicklaus Kennedy 74-73-73 220 (+4)
T31 Anthony Marcinelli 75-73-74 222 (+6)
63 Nathan Hodge 78-80-78 236 (+20)
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