• Freshman Brendan MacDougall, who posted the best 54-hole score by a Panther in the Big South Championship since 2007, finished the tournament one-over and tied for 13th.
• Freshman RJ Bartolomucci tallied an even 72 in the second round and finished tied for 23rd (72, 72, 77; +5).
• High Point’s team score of 899 was good for eighth and showed a 32-stroke improvement over the team’s performance last season.
NINETY SIX, S.C. – Freshman Brendan MacDougall led the way as the High Point University men’s golf team earned an eighth-place finish in the Big South Championship on Saturday.
MacDougall opened the day with a +2 (74) in the first round before carding a 72 (E) in the final round. Overall, the Calgary, Alberta native finished +1 and tied for 13th while recording the top conference score by a Panther since 2007.
Similarly, MacDougall was named to the Big South All-Freshman Team becoming the first to earn that honor since McKay Tye in 2013. Meanwhile, junior Emile Menard represented the Purple & White on the Big South All-Academic Team.
“Obviously, we didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but we did a lot of positive things,” head coach Brady Gregor. “We had a bunch of young guys play well for us and having someone on the All-Freshman Team is a first since 2013, which was big for us. The improvement from last year’s score really shows the foundation that we’ve laid this season with this new program and we look to build on that in the future.”
As a team, High Point placed eighth with a three-round score of 899. The mark is 32 strokes better than the squad’s overall tally in 2016.
Behind MacDougall, freshman RJ Bartolomucci matched his score from Friday with a 72 on the first 18 holes of the day. However, the righty brought it home with a +5 (77) to place tied for 23rd in the event despite tying for second in par-5 scoring (4.50).
From the No. 1 spot in the lineup, freshman Alec Weary completed his first conference championship tied for 35th overall (74, 77, 78; 229).
“Having three strong freshman to build around will be great for us,” Gregor continued. “For them to be able to get this experience and get used to the nerves of a conference championship will do nothing but help this program in the future.”
Rounding out HPU’s quintet, sophomore Davis Kiger (75, 76, 82; 233) and Menard (77, 77, 81; 235) placed 41st and 42nd, respectively.
Campbell took home the team title with a 54-hole score of 838 while the Camel’s Jesper Svensson won the individual title with a -14 total.