SAVANNAH, Ga.  Methodist's men's golf team rallied from a four-stroke deficit at the start of the day to a five-stroke victory after Tuesday's concluding round of The Savannah Invitational at The Club at Savannah Harbor.

The Monarchs (290-287-279—856, 8-under par) posted the low round of 16 teams Tuesday, rallying past Day 1 leader Guilford College (286-287-288—861, -3) which had forged that four-stroke lead after Monday's two rounds on the 6,845-yard, par 72 layout at Savannah Harbor. Guilford finished the Invitational in a tie for second place with Huntingdon College.

Individually, Methodist pushed all five of its golfers into the top 20 of the 80-player field, led by junior All-American (Golf Coaches Association of America) Andre Chi (74-70-69—213, -3), who finished tied for sixth place.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: The Savannah Invitational
Location: Savannah, Ga.
Host: Berry (Ga.) College
Course: The Club at Savannah Harbor (6,845 yards, par 72)
Team leaders: 1 – Methodist (290-287-279—856, -8), T-2 – Huntingdon College (286-295-280—861, -3), T-2 – Guilford (286-287-288—861, -3)
Individual leaders: 1 – James Michoe, Guilford (65-67-71—203, -13), 2 – Cameron Starr, LaGrange College (73-65-66—204, -12), 3 – Three players tied at 212, 4-under

ROUND NOTES

• Chi just got better and better as he progressed through the tournament's three rounds. Tuesday's 69 included three birdies and 16 par putts that found the bottom of the hole -- a clean slate without a single bogey or worse.
• The low-Monarch for Tuesday, however, was Henry Angier (75-73-66—214, -2), whose 6-under 66 vaulted him into ninth place. Angier was an eager collector of birdies in the final round, writing in seven on his card. His only blemish was a bogey on No. 18, but otherwise he parred the other 10 holes in the round.
• Freshman Cooper Hrabak (72-71-73—216, Even par) finished his collegiate debut in a 12th-place tie. His round included 13 pars and a pair of birdies.
• Senior All-American Zane Brownrigg (74-74-71—219, +3) went under par Tuesday to finish his Invitational tied for 17th at 3-over. Tuesday's round had a bit of an up and down quality to it as he collected seven birdies but found extra shots on five other holes.
• Another freshman, Joseph Pritchard (70-73-77—220, +4) had the low-Monarch round in the opening 18, but faded a bit across Rounds 2 and 3 to finish tied for 19th place. Along with three birdies on Tuesday was also the lone eagle by a Monarch over the two days, coming on the 530-yard, par-5 11th.

INVITATIONAL NOTES

• Methodist played the par 3s in 1-under for the Invitational, and the par 5s in 10-under. Those figures, as well as +11 on the par 4s, led all teams at Savannah Harbor.
• The team's 55 birdies were also the most in the field.
• Angier carded 13 birdies over his two days, tying for second most in the field of 80.
• Ranked teams joining the 5th-ranked (GCAA) Monarchs in Savannah are No. 2 Huntingdon College, No. 6 Hampden-Sydney College, No. 7 Piedmont, No. 8 Guilford, No. 11 Greensboro College and No. 16 Oglethorpe (Ga.) University.

UP NEXT
Methodist will make a short trip to Pinehurst, N.C., for its next outing, the Tiger Invitational hosted by Hampden-Sydney College at Forest Creek Country Club on March 13-14.