Robinson, Eagles win Johnny Palmer Invitational
Feb. 25, 2009
New London, N.C. - The Carson-Newman Eagles fought off freezing temperatures and gusty winds to fire a final-round 304 (+16) and finish eight strokes ahead of Pfeiffer University to win the Johnny Palmer Invitational played at the Old North State Club Course on Tuesday afternoon. Eagle junior Brad Robinson (Johnson City, Tenn.) took medalist honors by two strokes with a 3-over 147 for the two rounds.
C-N was tied for first at +29 after Monday's round, but shaved 13 shots off that total on Tuesday to shoot 621 (+45) for the tournament and edge Pfeiffer (629, +53).
"We had some guys bounce back in tough conditions to make the difference," Eagle head coach John Minor said of his team final-round effort. "Obviously Brad's win shows what his expectations are for the spring, but the guys behind him were so much better for us in the final round. This is how we wanted to start the spring."
Robinson held off Pfeiffer's Andrew Shiflet by two strokes to take the tournament title, his second in the last 12 months. He won the Richard Rendleman Invitational last March.
While Robinson gave a stroke back to his first-day pace, freshman Liam Ashby (Dublin, Ireland) and sophomore Blake Howard (Johnson City, Tenn.) combined to improved their Monday scores by 18 strokes, pushing the Eagles to the victory.
Ashby fired a 74 in the final round to match Robinson, finishing in sole possession of fifth, five strokes back at 152 (+5).
Howard bounced back from a 91 on Monday to shoot a 77 on Tuesday.
Junior Cory Hinchey (Abingdon, Va.) put together two rounds of 79 to finish seventh, giving the Eagles three finishers in the top seven, and three of the top five Division II finishers.
Erskine College finished third at 638 (+62).
C-N returns to action next week at the 2009 Richard Rendleman Invitational, played at the Country Club of Salisbury in Salisbury, N.C. Robinson won last year's tournament and the Eagles finished sixth against a field that included the entire South Atlantic Conference, as well as Georgia College, USC-Aiken, and Lander.