GREENWOOD, S.C. - The no. 4/6 Carson-Newman men's golf team looks to build off their momentum from the Hurricane Invitational this week as they head to Greenwood, S.C. for the Lander Bearcat Classic.
The two day, three round tournament will be held at the Greenwood Country Club beginning on Monday, Mar. 7. The Eagles will play 36 holes on the opening day and then play 18 holes in the final round on Tuesday, Mar. 8.
The last time the convocation competed in Greenwood was at the 2021 edition of the Bearcat Classic. After the first round was called due to darkness, the Eagles ended the tournament at seventh place for a 14-over 878 score after three rounds. The Eagles finished two strokes shy of a top-five finish.
Six shots separated the five Eagles in the field with Alex Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.) pacing the group at 3-over for a tie at 25th. As a team, C-N carded 36 holes in the final two rounds for birdie or better, including an eagle on the par-5 1st-hole for Collins in the second round.
Hodge led the group with 10 birdies in rounds two and three, splitting five in each round. The senior was even in Tuesday's finale thanks to those birdies overshadowing a pair of bogeys and a triple-bogey on the par-5 18th. Throughout the entire event, Hodge netted a team-high 13 birdies.
The last time the Eagles hit the links was last week for the Hurricane Invitational in Albany, Ga. After sitting in first place after 36 holes, the Eagles dropped to a third place finish in the tournament.
The Eagles' 13 birdies could not help balance out the scoring in the final round, as Carson-Newman shot a two-over 290 in round three. Carson-Newman finishes the tournament at third, three strokes behind champion North Georgia with a four-under 860 for the week.
Carson-Newman did finish the tournament with the best score of any team on par fives, finishing 21-under and an average score of 4.65. The Eagles were also efficient on the difficult par threes at the Doublegate Country Club, recording the second-best score at four-over with an average score of 3.07.
C-N finished the tournament with the most birdies in three rounds, carding 48 one-under shots. Jonathan Nielsen had the most for the Eagles and fifth-most on the week with 12.
The number six ranked Division-II golfer in the world according to Golfstat, Nielsen finished the week tied for third after carding a one-over 73 final round. Nielsen finished the week with a four-under 212. Nielsen has now finished inside the top-three in back-to-back tournaments and has recorded a top-10 finish in four of his last five tournaments. He also finished the tournament with the second-best score on par threes, shooting two-under with an average score of 2.83.
Collins recorded his first top-10 finish of the year and his first since the 2019 Walters State Fall Classic, finishing tied for seventh with a two-under 214. Collins recorded a one-under 71 in the final round.
Jake Mynatt also had a solid week in Georgia, including carding five straight birdies and an eagle in the first round. Mynatt was one of 17 golfers to record an eagle at the two day event as he finished tied for 32nd with a four-over 220.
The two day tournament will begin on Monday, Mar. 7 with a 9:00 AM shotgun start. Fans can follow the action at the Lander Bearcat Classic via the Golfstat mobile app or on Golfstat.com. Social media updates via the Carson-Newman twitter page @cn_eagles will also be available.
