LOUDON, Tenn. – Tom Forster (Oundle, England) shot a one-under 71 to score under par for the third consecutive tournament and the Carson-Newman men's golf team earned a second-place finish on Tuesday at the Tennessee River Rumble at the Tennessee National Golf Club in Loudon, Tenn.
"It was a good finish for us," said coach Randy Wylie. "We hate that the tournament ended up being only one round. We would've liked to have had another go. It was gratifying to finish ahead of Lee, a ranked team, and we also topped several teams in our conference today."
Forster is the first Eagles to string together three straight events in red numbers since Andrew Hall accomplished the feat in the fall of 2015. The Englishman started his day with a 36 on the front nine before improving by one shot on the back nine. The freshman tied for the competition's second-best mark on par five's at two-under. He also totaled 13 pars.
"Tom's been a warrior for us all year," said Wylie. "He's a smart heady player who grinds every day. I'm very pleased with him. He's shown himself to be one of the best freshman in the country."
Not far behind Forster were teammates Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) and Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.). They finished in a tie for eighth with five other players, shooting an even-par 72. Headrick had success on the course's shortest holes, as evidenced by a 2.75 stroke average on par threes that tied for second-best in the competition. By contrast, Reese thrived the most on par fives, where he was three-under, tying for the event's best score.
Also entering the clubhouse with identical scores were the fourth and fifth players in the C-N lineup, Brady Childers (Granite Falls, N.C.) and Anthony Marcinelli (Knoxville, Tenn.). They both carded five-over 77's and finished deadlocked for 38th. Marcinelli had a great start to the day with a 35 over his first nine holes only to stumble to a 42 on the back nine. Childers improved by one stroke on the second half of his scorecard, going from a 39 to a 38. Playing as an individual in the tournament, freshman Fintan McKenna (Westhill, U.K.) placed 68th at +13.
Conference rival Lincoln Memorial earned the Tennessee River Rumble's team championship by finishing with a par, four strokes better than the Eagles. Mars Hill capped the tournament six shots off the lead and Wingate and No. 8 Lee University came in at fourth at seven-over.
On the player leaderboard, it was David Whinery of Tusculum who took home the hardware, thanks to a day in which he was five-under. LMU's Sam Broadhurst fell just one stroke short of tying Whinery and in third was Matt Strube of Lee.
Next up for coach Wylie and his team is the South Atlantic Conference Championships at the Country Club of Salisbury in Salisbury, N.C. on April 23rd – 25th. For news and updates, as well as a preview of the conference tournament, visit cneagles.com.
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