SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Red-shirt sophomore Chris Jones earned a tie for seventh-place overall while the Runnin' Bulldogs finished in 10th-place overall at the 27th annual Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational played at the par 72, 6648 yard, Country Club of Spartanburg in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Gardner-Webb team shot rounds of 288, 300 and 281 to finish with a combined total score of 870, +6 for the Inivitational leaving them three strokes ahead of 11th-place Stetson and five strokes behind ninth-place Furman.
Jones led Gardner-Webb individually finishing in a tie for seventh-place overall with one other player at the Invitational. Jones fired opening day rounds of 68, -4 under par, and a 72 even par on Monday, while rounding out his score card Tuesday with a round of 70, -2 under par finishing with the total of 210, -6 under par. Jones tied for second in birdies made at the Invitational rolling in 16 over his 54-holes of play. Jones was also in the top-5 for Par 4 (3.97, -1) and Par 5 (4.42, -7) scoring averages over the two-day Invitational.
Next to place for Gardner-Webb in a tie for 26th overall was senior Matt Yelverton who strung together rounds of 73, 70 and another round of 73 today to finish at 216, even par for the Invitational. Yelverton carded 12 birdies at the Invitational as well as an eagle and the senior led GWU with a Par 5 scoring average of 4.33, -8 tying him for third overall for the Invitational in that category.
Sophomore Vincent Blanchette finished in a tie for 34th-place at the Invitational shooting and opening round of even par 72, followed by a second round of 80 and shot a sensational GWU low score of 67, -5 under par to finish the contest. At the end his 54-hole total score tallied 219, +3 over his two days of play.
Playing in his first collegiate tournament for Gardner-Webb freshman Aaron Thomas shot rounds of 82, 78 and 74 improving four strokes each round he played to finish with a total score of 234, +18 at the Country Club of Spartanburg.
Finishing up the lineup for Gardner-Webb at the Invitational was freshman Jake Kennedy. Kennedy fired an opening round 75 on Monday before his second round score was scratched and disqualified due to an error in Kennedy signing his scorecard. The freshman would bounce back from the bizarre second round events to finish with a closing round even par 72 finishing 75th overall at the Invitational.
Justin Paglia of Army took home the top individual honors this week by shooting impressive rounds of 69, 69 and 67, to take the medalist position with a total of 205, -11 under par.
Army also took home the top team honors at the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational as the Knights shot team rounds of 277, 279 and 278 finishing with a grand total of 834, -30 under par, six shots ahead of host Wofford College.
The 2015 Coca-Cola Wofford Inivtational was the last regular-season tournament of the year for the Runnin' Bulldogs men's golf team who know shift their focus to the upcoming 2015 Big South Men's Golf Championship. The Men's Golf Championship will begin next Monday, April 20 and will be hosted by Presbyterian College at The Patriot Golf Club in Ninety-Six, S.C.
Gardner Webb- 288, 300 & 282 = 870 (+6) 10
T7-Chris Jones – 68, 72 & 70 = 210 (-6)
T26- Matt Yelverton– 73, 70 & 73 = 216 (E)
T34- Vincent Blanchette – 72, 80 & 67 = 219 (+3)
73- Aaron Thomas – 82, 78, & 74 = 234 (+18)
75- Jake Kennedy– 75, DQ & 72 = 147
