MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala.  Looking to gain sole possession of first place over the final 18 holes of the Shoals Intercollegiate, the Methodist men's golf team was unable to pull away, instead falling behind Carnegie Mellon, who took the top spot. The Monarchs finished in second place with a team total of one stroke under par for the tournament.
 
Methodist's Chase Walts (nine-under par) won the medalist honors with Aiden Spampinato in second just three strokes behind. Caleb Ryan gave the Monarchs a third spot in the top three as he finished tied with three other golfers for third at five-under par.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Event: Shoals Intercollegiate
Course: Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals (Par 72 – 7,165 yards)
Top teams: 1 – Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) (285-287-281—853; -7), 2 – Methodist (289-283-291—863; +3), 3 – Emory (301-293-279—873; +9)
Top individuals: 1 – Chase Walts, Methodist (69-68-70—207; -9), 2 – Aiden Spampinato (69-69-72—210; -6), T3 – Caleb Ryan (69-69-73—211; -5) and three others
 
FINAL ROUND

• Walts was the only Monarch to shoot below par on Tuesday, He had an eventful back nine, posting bogey-birdie-eagle-bogey on holes 10-13.
• Spampinato kept his composure with a fairly steady round, making birdies on holes 2 and 5 to get to two-under par early in the day. After a couple of bogeys on the back nine, he fittingly finished out the day by scoring par on his final five holes.
• Ryan had an even more mellow round than Spampinato. After dropping in a bogey on Hole 18 to begin his day, he kept a clean sheet on the front nine with a birdie on hole 7. One more bogey on hole 10 put him at one-over par on the round, which ultimately dropped him out of T2 with Spampinato.
• Recording birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey on his first four holes, Cooper Hrabak experienced highs and lows on Tuesday. He double-bogeyed hole 6 but sank back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15.
• Cameron Cappuzzo also saw ups and downs to his day, starting on hole 4 with a bogey. He birdied hole 7, then immediately carded a quadruple bogey on hole 8. The back nine was more favorable to the senior, including an eagle on the par-5 hole 12 (doing so before Walts). However, he finished his round on hole 3 with a double bogey.
• David D'Agostino played a more consistent round than Cappuzzo but sank five bogeys with just one birdie on his way to a four-over par on the day.

UP NEXT
Methodist will have the rest of the week to prepare for the three-day long USA South Championship, beginning on Monday, April 22 at the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, S.C.