April 16, 2019

Final round comeback leaves No. 14/15 C-N fifth at SAC Championship

CAMDEN, S.C. – No. 14/15 Carson-Newman battled back to score its best round of the week with a 293 on Tuesday, garnering a fifth-place finish at the South Atlantic Conference Championship.

The Eagles were 13-over in the round, moving their three-round total to a 51-over 891. They led the field for par-5 scoring with a 13-under clip at 4.71 on such holes.

This was their lowest finish in the championship since a 10^th-place showing in 2015.

"Little bit of a comeback for the Eagles, but everyone is disappointed in our overall performance," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "We are all very thankful we have secured a spot in the NCAA Regionals and we will work really hard and expect a much better performance at the event. Nobody on the team played near to their potential this week."

Tom Forster (Northamptonshire, England) used a three-over final round of 73 to move into a tie for 10th-place with a 219 total. The junior was on par for one hole in the front nine, carding six bogeys and a pair of birdies to be four-over at the turn. He made up ground in the back nine with two more birdies and just one bogey to net a nine-over total through the tournament.

Jake Mynatt (Knoxville Tenn.) was three shots better in his final round compared to the second round with a +4 outing on Tuesday. His 74 in the round was enough to tie for the 21^st spot on the leaderboard at 13-over, holding a 223 in 54-holes. The freshman shot five bogeys on the day with a birdie on the par-5 third-hole.

One shot behind Mynatt was Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.), improving for yet another round to score two-over in his final round of SAC action in his career. He finished the tournament tied for 23^rd at 14-over. The senior was one-over in both halves of the course, evenly carding for bogeys and two birdies in each.

Like Headrick, Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) also turned in his best round at the event with a four-over performance on Tuesday. He landed tied for 29^th with a 17-over 227. The sophomore scored his first triple bogey of the event on the par-4 fourth-hole. He added on two bogeys and a birdie to sit at fourth-over at the turn. He battled back in the back nine with an even showing on two birdies and bogeys for a 74.

Rounding out the Eagles on the leaderboard was Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.), tied for 40^th at 25-over through the tournament. The freshman shot his highest round of the tournament on Tuesday at 11-over. He was six over through the front nine with a pair of bogeys and double bogeys. The back nine brought just one double bogey but three bogeys.

Queens won its first SAC title with a 24-over total of 864. Newberry took second at 25-over while Coker was third at 35-over.

Newberry's Harry Bolton went wire-to-wire to take the top medalist title with an even 210. His teammate Adrian Villiger was the runner-up at two-over while Queens' Jonathan Noble was third at three-over.

The Eagles await their seeding for the NCAA South/Southeast Regional after being second in the rankings the past two weeks. One more regional ranking will be released before the field for the tournament is announced at 6 p.m. on April 26. The three-day regional begins on May 9 from the Mission Inn Resort and Club's El Campeon Course in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.

Carson-Newman	297	301	293	891	+51	5^th
Tom Forster	72	74	73	219	+9	T-10^th
Jake Mynatt	72	77	74	223	+13	T-21^st
Jake Headrick	77	75	72	224	+14	2-23^rd
Jackson Tyler	76	77	74	227	+17	T-29^th
Will Collins	79	75	81	235	+25	T-40^th