Second-ranked Hawks win first tournament of the spring
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Three Hawks finished in the top-four as the second-ranked Huntingdon men's golf team won the Savannah Harbor Classic on Tuesday.
In their first tournament of the spring, the Hawks shot a 10-over-par 586 in two rounds to win by five strokes. Huntingdon shot an 8-over 296 in Monday's first round and closed the tournament with a 2-over 290 at The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa.
The win was the second for the Hawks in six tournaments since the start of the fall season and the fourth top-two finish. The Hawks won the Rhodes College Fall Classic in September and closed the fall season with back-to-back second-place finishes in the Golfweek DIII Invitational and the O'Briant-Jensen Memorial.
Behind Huntingdon, eighth-ranked Methodist was second with a 15-over 591 and 20th-ranked Hampden-Sydney was third with a 19-over 595. Top-ranked Emory and 15th-ranked Greensboro tied for fourth at 22-over 598.
The 18-team field included nine nationally-ranked teams.
Junior Drew Mathers and seniors Henry Gee and Stephen Shephard each placed in the top-four for Huntingdon. Mathers finished one stroke out of first and tied for second with a two-round 144. With an even-par 72 in each round, Tuesday marked Mathers' sixth straight round of par-or-better.
Shephard and Gee both finished two strokes out of first and tied for fourth with a 1-over 145. After shooting a 4-over 76 in Round 1, Shephard turned in the Hawks' best round on Tuesday with a 3-under 69. Gee, who led the tournament after Round 1 with a 2-under 70, shot 3-over 75 in the final round.
Methodist's Dan Shepherd earned medalist honors with a 1-under 143 for the tournament.
Rounding out Huntingdon's top-five, senior Mark Connelly shot a 5-over 77 in the final round and finished with a two-round 155. Freshman Cody Argade shot a 2-over 74 in the final round to finish with a 36-hole total of 157.
Director of Golf Dave Schreyer on the win: "This was a very solid start to the spring for us with three guys in the top-four. It's nice to get the spring started with a win against a number of top-ranked teams."
Coming Up: Huntingdon will play in the Jekyll Island Invitational on March 15-17.