Men's Golf | 4/13/2021 7:38:00 PM

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  A very late surge saw Methodist men's golf jump from seventh to fifth on the final hole of the final round of the two-day Wynlakes Intercollegiate tournament Tuesday afternoon.

Andre Chi (72-70—142, 2-under par) finished in a tie for fifth, the highest individual finish for the Monarchs. Chi was a stroke away from being tied for second and four strokes behind the individual medalist. In a tournament that featured seven teams from the top 10 of Golfstat.com's rankings, top-ranked Methodist (298-292—590, 14-over par) finished 24 strokes behind first-place Piedmont College.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 2021 Wynlakes Intercollegiate
Host: Huntingdon College
Course: Wynlakes Golf & Country Club (Par 72, 6,979 yards)
Top teams: 1 – Piedmont (281-285—566, 10-under par), 2 – Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (287-283—570, -6), 3 – Guilford College (282-300—582, +6)
Top individuals: 1 – Jason Folker, Carnegie Mellon (71-67—138, -6), T-2 – Jason Li, Carnegie Mellon (70-71—141, -3), T-2 – Ben Balen, Piedmont (68-73—141, -3), T-2 – James Mishoe, Guilford (67-74—141, -3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Methodist began Tuesday's final round of the Intercollegiate on the back nine.
• Four birdies on the final hole vaulted Methodist over the likes of LaGrange College (302-290—592, +16) and host Huntingdon College (296-297—593, +17). Chi, Henry Angier, Cooper Hrabak, and Cameron Cappuzzo all carded birdies on the par-5 9th hole. 
• Methodist was stellar on the 8th hole, the second-to-last hole, as well. Angier, Cappuzzo, Chi, and Zane Brownrigg all turned in pars while Hrabak scored a birdie.
• Chi recorded five birdies on Day 2, including three on his back nine. He started the day with five straight pars before consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th holes. He had identical scores of 35 for his front and back nines. One of the three strokes he gave back for the day was the difference between third place and second.
• Hrabak (76-72—148, +4) improved from 38th after Day 1 to tied for 27th. He was at even par for the final round as his three birdies for the day melded with three bogeys. His birdie on the opening hole was met by a bogey at the 16th and consecutive bogeys at holes No. 3 and No. 4 preceded the consecutive birdies on the last two holes. He added 12 par putts for the round.
• Angier (75-75—150, +6) finished in a tie for 32nd. He carded four birdies on the final day but after being at par through the front nine, a challenging finish (a double-bogey and a triple-bogey on his back nine) prevented the senior from an under-par round. He started the round with consecutive bogeys before turning in five pars and two birdies on his front nine.
• Cappuzzo (76-75—151, +7) turned in three birdies for the day but six bogeys left him in a tie for 37th in the tournament. His front nine contained three bogies, a birdie on the 12th hole, and five pars. He did improve in the back nine as he traded out a par putt for another birdie.
• Brownrigg (75-78—153, +9) finished the tournament in 47th (tied) place. He hit a birdie on the 13th hole but that was preceded by a bogey on the 11th hole and a double-bogey on the 12th. Two more bogeys put the senior at 4-over par through his front nine. He was, however, better in his back nine as he put up six par putts and a birdie, which came on the 4th hole.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• The Monarchs' performance on the par 4s was third-best in the tournament with a 4.16 average at 16-over par. Methodist was even better at the par 5s, playing them at 5-under (4.88), second-best in the field.
• Chi was phenomenal on the par 5s, finishing the tournament at 4-under for those holes with a 4.50 average.
• Chi also racked up 10 birdies for the tournament, which were tied for the most among the field. As a team, the Monarchs' 32 total birdies were third most in the tournament.
• In addition to the Monarchs and No. 8 Piedmont, the tournament included No. 2 Huntingdon College, No. 3 Guilford College, No. 4 Emory (Ga.) University, No. 9 McMurry (Texas) University and No. 10 Carnegie (Pa.) Mellon University.

UP NEXT
Methodist is looking for its first league title since 2017 when the Monarchs travel to Rocky Mount, N.C., for the 2021 USA South Athletic Conference Championship on April 22-24. The three-day event will be hosted by North Carolina Wesleyan College at the Benvenue Country Club.