Read Earns Medalist Honors with Late Birdie Binge - Flyers Take Second at Longleaf
Freshman Ben Read earned medalist honors for the second time in three spring tournaments and the Sandhills Community College A men's golf team finished in second place at the Stitch Flyers Invitational held at Longleaf Golf and Family Club on Monday and Tuesday.
Read birdied four of his final six holes on Tuesday. His scores of 70-68-138 nipped David D'Agostino of the first place Methodist B team, 70-69-139 by a single stroke. That gave Read four sub-par rounds out of a total of seven in three tournaments this spring.
The Methodist B team finished at 2-under par for the 36 holes, 12 strokes better than the Flyers A team. The Flyers B team came in fourth in the field of eight teams and 53 golfers.
Others finishing in the top 10 individually for Coach Gus Ulrich's squad were freshman Alex Martin (SCC-A), 5th place, 73-74-147, and freshman Liam Harris (SCC-A) 74-75-149 and sophomore Logan Hay (Individual), 75-74-149, in a tie for 8th place.
Read, who is from Banchory, Scotland, birdied 12, 13, 14 and 17 down the stretch. Playing in the group behind him, D'Agostino also played an under-par final nine, but the long putt he drained for a birdie on the 18th hole left him a stroke behind.
"I think the more times you get into these kind of circumstances the better you are," Read said afterward. "Having coach around to mentor me through that has definitely helped."
As a home event, Ulrich was able to enter A and B teams as well as two players competing as individuals. Hay, a sophomore, who posted a tournament round of 65 last fall, has been trying to work his way back into the starting lineup. He said that team qualifying rounds have been quite intense.
"I didn't really get off to a good start in the spring," he said, following Tuesday's round of 74 that included three birdies. "I've struggled a bit with the ball-striking. The past couple of days I've been hitting it pretty good."
Ulrich saw progress as his team moves closer to June 7-10 when it will have the opportunity to compete for a third consecutive NJCAA Division III Championship in Chautauqua, NY.
"Our B team struggled a little today, but overall I thought it was a good showing," he said. "We've got a big test in 10 days at the East Carolina tournament. I'm really anxious to get ready for that and then nationals after that.
"I couldn't be happier with Ben. Liam has been playing better golf again and Logan is coming around. I'm very encouraged."
The dates for the Cutter Creek Classic hosted by East Carolina and Elon are March 31, April 1 and 2 in Snow Hill, NC.
Team results – 1. Methodist B 286-288-574, 2. Sandhills A 293-293-586, 3. Methodist C 297-302-599, 4. Sandhills B 310-311-621, 5. Columbia College 322-322-644, 6. USC Sumter 341-335-676, 7. Patrick Henry CC 349-337-686, 8. Davidson-Davie 341-346-687. Individual leaders – 1. Read (SCCA) 70-68-138, 2. D'Agostino 70-69-139 (MethB), 3. Will Campbell (MethC), 4. Kyle Berg (Meth B) 70-72-142, 5. Haden Ruby (Meth B) 73-73-146, 6. Martin (SCCA) 73-74-147, 7. Beau Brewer (Meth ind.) 71-77-148, T8 Hay (SCCB) 75-74-149, T8 Harris (SCCA) 74-75-149. Other SCC – 15. Watcharakan Chankarn (SCCA) 78-76-154, T16 Noah Maness (SCCA) 76-79-155, T18 Adam Hathaway SCCB) 76-80-156, 21. Tyler Owens (SCC ind) 75-83-158, T22 James Baldauf (SCCB) 81-79-160, 24. Cole Howard (SCCB) 78-85-163, T25 Supanat Rujiranan (SCCB) 86-78-164, 37. Dakota Oman (SCC ind.) 89-84-173.
C. Bergmann