GREENVILLE, S.C. — The ninth-ranked Catawba College men's golf team had an up-and-down stroke play section of the South Atlantic Conference Championship on Sunday and Monday, leveraging a remarkable second round to seed third in medal match play.
Catawba went 15 over par in the opening round but roared back in the second with a 6-under 282, the best score in the field. Monday's 18 holes began with turbulence before numerous birdies on the back nine provided a course correction, giving the blue and white a third-place finish in stroke play with a team score of 884 (+20).
No. 5 Wingate went 8-under to gain the top seed in medal match play, followed by 16th-ranked Lincoln Memorial at 1-over. Catawba finished 19 strokes behind the runner-up with Anderson making the cut by six shots over Carson-Newman. LMU's Harry Dickins clipped Lewis Beeden of Wingate – the No. 1 golfer in Division II – for individual medalist honors by a single shot with a 10-under 206.
RESULTS
6. Ilia Antoniadis (219, +3)
T-7. Paul Esnault (220, +4)
T-12. Allan Lockwood (222, +6)
T-19. Alec Barker (227, +11)
35. Maxence Bonnet (232, +16)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Antoniadis was haunted by the front nine but cleaned up immensely with a combined 4-under on the back, finishing as Catawba's highest finisher in stroke play
- Esnault played a major role in the second-round turnaround as an eagle on the 18th hole finalized a 69, bookended by slightly-over-par rounds to crack the top 10
- Early woes hurt Lockwood on Sunday, but he birdied four of the last five holes to go 3-under in Round 2 and stayed steady with a team-best 74 in Round 3
- Barker chopped 11 shots from Round 1 to 2 with a balanced 71 to finish the first day, then came back out to lead the way with a 2-over 74 on Monday for a top-20 placement
- Bonnet was strong on Sunday with a 78-74 scorecard, but he ran into trouble early in the third round with two late birdies for an 80 to wrap up stroke play
UP NEXT
Catawba matches up with No. 2 seed Lincoln Memorial in the medal match play semifinals that tee off tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.
