DADE CITY, FL.- No.20 Carson-Newman began its spring season with a third place finish at the Saint Leo Invitational held at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club.
"We had a very good week to start the spring season," Carson-Newman head coach Randy Wylie said. "We did have to count, a higher score in the first and second round which prevented us from winning the whole thing, but I'm happy with our finish in a top notch field. We were led by stellar performances by Hayden Hunneke and Jake Mynatt."
No. 20 C-N finished better than No.18 Saint Leo, No. 11 Tampa by three and ten strokes respectively. The only two teams to finish the event higher than C-N were No. 5 Lee, who won the event by four strokes over No.7 Nova Southeastern.
Hayden Hunneke (Chattanooga, Tenn.) followed up an opening round 5-under 67, with a 2-under 70 to close round two. The graduate student made four birdies, with just one setback in the round, a double bogey on the par 5 11th. In his final round, Hunneke made three birdies on holes 2, 7, and 18. He made his first eagle of the tournament on the par 5 13th. His birdie on the last hole of the day allowed him to finish at 1-under. He completed all three rounds of the tournament under par, finishing at 8-under for 3rd place.
Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) played a consistent second round which included three birdies and three bogeys for an even par 72. His three birdies came in a four-hole stretch (8-11). The graduate student maintained his success into the final round. On his second role of the final round, he made eagle on the par 5 2nd, his second eagle of the tournament. He closed the opening nine with a birdie to sit at 3-under. Mynatt made a pair of birdies and bogeys in his final nine holes to complete a 3-under 69 score in the final round. He finished the event at 7-under par and earning a 5th place. The top five finish is his second this season and sixth for his career.
After an opening round 3-under 69, Luke Stock (Oxted, England) added nine strokes in his second-round score, carding a 6-over 78. The highlight of Stock's second round came on hole 17, making eagle on the 362-yard par four. He added two birdies in the round as well. Stock recovered from the second-round score, to post an even par round of 72. He made a total of five birdies in the round, finishing in a tie for 29th.
Elliot MacGregor (Shepperton, Middlesex) struggled in round two, making just two birdies which came during a four hole stretch to start the back nine. His 14-over 86 was not included in the team's second round score. MacGregor put together his best round of the event in the final round with a 3-over 75 score. The sophomore made three birdies in the final round.
Aidan Powter (Sydney, Australia) put together a fine second round, shaving four strokes from his opening round score. The junior made three birdies and four bogeys for a 1-over 73 in round two. Powter got better with each round, carding a 2-under 70 in the final round of action. He made five birdies in the final round and played the par 5s at 3-under par. He moved up 13 places in the final round to finish in a tie for 35th.
Playing as an individual, Ben Johnston's (Farragut, Tenn.) best round came in the second, carding a 1-over 73. He played an even par back nine to earn the solid second round which included three birdies. His final round consisted of just one birdie, scoring a 4-over 76.
Lee's Beck Burnette took home individual honors going 10-under over the course of the three rounds.
The Eagles are back in action on Monday Feb 27 at the Hurricane Invitational played at Doublegate Country Club in Albany, Georgia.
Eagle fans can stay up to date with the men's golf team and the rest of Carson-Newman athletics at cneagles.com.
