SEVIERVILLE, Tenn.- For the second consecutive season, No. 21 Carson-Newman is victorious at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate championship.
C-N ran away with the championship putting together the third consecutive best team round of the event. No.21 Carson-Newman becomes the first team in Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate history to win back-to-back championships. The Eagles remain the only team to win this tournament multiple times. C-N beat No. 5 North Georgia by 20 strokes.
"I think this year was just as good, " Carson-Newman head coach Randy Wylie said. "The weather was so much more difficult this year, those scores are comparable to last season. Today, basically not being above 40 degrees, kind of breezy, and wet. It was really hard playing and a 67 from Jake Mynatt today was fantastic. That is a great round of golf."
Randy Wylie's team once again had the lowest score in the final round. C-N had the lowest team score in each round of the event.
Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) was rolling from the start. He made five consecutive pars to find an early groove. His first birdie of the day came on the 7th hole, a 527-yard par five. To start the back nine, the graduate student caught fire with the putter again. He made three consecutive birdies to start his back nine (holes 10-12). His next birdie came on the hole 16, a 439-yard par four. After a bogey on 17, he managed to get that dropped shot back on hole 18 with a birdie to cap a 5-under 67. The round was the lowest by an Eagle golfer this week. Mynatt finished in a tie for 2nd place. The top five finish is the seventh of his Eagle career. He has finished in the top six, in four straight events.
"The first two rounds the putter was cold, " Mynatt said. "But today, I caught fire with the putter. Made one mistake on 17, where I chunked it right in the water. But I was able to make a good putt for bogey. I hit the ball well today and that is something I didn't really do well the first two days. I'm glad we got it done as a team, it want as good as last year, but the conditions were so much tougher."
Luke Stock (Oxted, England) completed his best week with C-N, finishing as C-N's second highest finisher. He completed the tournament with a final round score of even par 72. The junior made two bogeys and two birdies on each set of nine holes in the final round. His birdies came on 7,8 15 and 18. Stock was C-N's only golfer to play each round at even par or better.
Hayden Hunneke (Chattanooga, Tenn.) finished the Bobby Nichols intercollegiate championship with a 4-over 76 score. He began the day by going 2-over on the front nine, making seven pars and two bogeys. His lone birdie of the day came on hole 13, a 164-yard par three. He played his final nine holes of the day at even par, finishing with a 4-over 76 final round score. The graduate student finished in a tie for 7th. He has finished in the top ten in all three events this spring season.
Elliot MacGregor (Shepperton, Middlesex) did not have his best stuff in the final round, but a pair of birdies helped him secure a spot in the top ten. His birdies came on holes 12 and 16. His 6-over 78 on the day was good enough to stay inside the top ten. MacGregor finished the tournament at 3-over par. The top ten finish is his second this season and third of his career.
After a slow start, Antonio Farinella (Knoxville, Tenn.) bounced back nicely to card a 4-over 76 in the final round. The senior made three double bogeys in his first four holes. The senior managed to play his next 14 holes at 2-under par, making two birdies and 12 pars to finish with a 4-over 76. He carded a 1-under 35 on the back nine.
Individually, Aidan Powter (Sydney, Australia) carded a 4-over 76 in the final round. He made three birdies, two of which came on the front nine. He made ten pars in the final round and finished in a tie for 51st.
Individual medalist honors went to Will Chambless from North Georgia who went 13-under for the event.
No. 21 Carson-Newman had the lowest scoring average on the par 4s (4.16) and par 5s (4.76 or 16-under). The Eagles tied for lowest scoring average on the par 3s with Roane State Community College at 3.05.
C-N's 175 pars and 50 birdies were the most in the field.
The Eagles return to the course on March 27-28 for the Tennessee River Rumble at Windriver Golf Club in Lenoir City, Tennessee.
