UTC Claims Wexford Title for Second Consecutive Win

HILTON HEAD, S.C.—The Chattanooga men’s golf team claimed its second-consecutive team title with a final-round 294 at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate.

The Mocs, who are ranked #47 in the Golfweek rankings and #48 in the Golftsat ratings, were never more than a stroke out of the team lead. An opening round of 300 left the team a single shot behind Marquette, but the Mocs were three strokes better than the Golden Eagles and held a two stroke edge over Marquette and East Carolina after two rounds. Chattanooga’s 54-hole total of 897 was three strokes ahead of Marquette and 10 better than third-place South Carolina-Aiken.

“I am proud of the way our guys ground it out this week” said head coach Mark Guhne. “We didn’t always hit the ball great this week, but we didn’t let our rounds get away from us. It kept us in position to get a win, and the guys closed it out when they had a chance. This win was a total team effort.”

Jonathan Hodge’s final-round 74 earned him a fourth-place finish at five-over par, eight shots behind medalist Mike van Sickle of Marquette. Hodge finished third last week at the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate.

Freshman Derek Rende was one stroke behind Hodge, earning the first top-five finish of his career. Rende opened the tournament with a 75 followed by a second round 74. His final round 73 moved him from eighth place overnight into fifth.

Bryce Ledford rebounded from a second-round 81 to shoot even par and move from 26th into a tie for 14th at 11-over par.

The win gives the Mocs two consecutive team titles for the second time in school history. UTC won back-to-back team titles in the fall of 2000 with wins at the Louisiana Tech Invitational and the Charleston Southern Fall Invitational.

Team Results
1. Chattanooga 300-303-294=897 (+33)
2. Marquette 299-306-295=900 (+36)
3. USC-Aiken 307-304-296=907 (+43)
4. East Carolina 311-294-303=908 (+44)
5. Eastern Michigan 311-307-296=914 (+50)
6. Furman 301-312-303=916 (+52)
7. Mercer 302-305-311=918 (+54)
8. Wofford 313-305-302=920 (+56)
9. Francis Marion 303-319-301=923 (+59)
10. Toledo 307-312-306=925 (+61)
11. Northern Illinois 315-309-303=927 (+63)
12. Miami (Ohio) 308-315-318=941 (+77)
13. Davidson 313-306-326=945 (+81)
14. Iowa 326-314-309=949 (+85)
15. George Washington 311-330-320=961 (+97)

Chattanooga Individuals
3. Jonathan Hodge 75-72-74=221 (+5)
5. Derek Rende 75-74-73=222 (+6)
T14. Bryce Ledford 74-81-72=227 (+11)
T26. Fredrik Qvicker 76-80-75=231 (+15)
T36. Mitch Brock 79-77-77=233 (+17)

Top-5 Individuals
1. Mike Van Sickle (Marquette) 73-69-71=213 (-3)
2. Cirian McAleavey (Toledo) 72-76-70=218 (+2)
3. Neil O’Briain (Wofford) 72-73-75=220 (+4)
4. Jonathan Hodge (UTC) 75-72-74=221 (+5)
5. Derek Rende (UTC) 75-74-73=222 (+6)