Gardner-Webb University
Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Blanchette Earns Top-15 Finish, as GWU Places Eighth at 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Championships
March 14, 2016 | Men's Golf
ATHENS, GA.- Junior Vincent Blanchette led the Runnin' Bulldogs with a tie for the 12th-place on the leaderboard at the 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Championships hosted by the University of Georgia at the historic Athens Country Club in Athens, Ga.
Gardner-Webb as a team shot rounds of 305 and 296 to finish the one-day, 36-hole, event with a total of 601, +25, earning an eighth-place finish for the Runnin' Bulldogs this afternoon.
Blanchette started this morning with an even-par 72 first followed by a second round performance of 71, -1 under par, finishing at -1 and in 12th-place for the Championships from the total score of 143. Blanchette went on a tear over the final stretch of his second round fighting off some early struggles to birdie four out of his last five holes this afternoon. The Quebec native led the GWU team in Birdies holed with eight on his scorecard at the conclusion of the Championships.
Red-shirt junior Chris Jones was the next highest Runnin' Bulldog on the leaderboard finishing in a tie for 37th-place overall from the two-round score of 149, +5, from rounds of 75 and 74. Jones holed six birdies at the Championships and finished tied for fourth in par-5 scoring with an average of 4.50 strokes.
Coming in a tie for the 43rd slot on the leaderboard was the lone freshman in the Gardner-Webb lineup Charles Dallery who shot 78 and 75 today to finish with a 36-hole total score of 153, +9. Dallery also tied for fourth in par-5 scoring average (4.50) at the Championships with a little help from an eagle at the 479-yard, par-5, 10th hole in his second round of play.
Sophomores Aaron Thomas and Jake Kennedy rounded out the lineup today for the Gardner-Webb men's golf team. Thomas carded rounds of 80 and 76 to finish in a tie for 52nd-place with a total score of 156, +12, while Kennedy fired 83 and 76 to have a combined score of 159, +15 taking a tie for 61st-place at the Championships.
The host team University of Georgia took home the top team position today shooting rounds of 271 and 285 to give them the lowest total team score of 556, -20 under par.
Arkansas' Nicholas Echavarria earned the medalist honors at the 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Championships shooting a 36-hole score of 137, -7 under par, from a decent opening round 70 followed by a very impressive second round score of 67.
The GWU men's golf team will tee it up next at the Furman Intercollegiate hosted by Furman University, March 25-27, at the Furman Golf Club in Greenville, S.C.
Gardner Webb- 305 & 296 = 601 8
T12- Vincent Blanchette– 72 & 71 = 143 (-1)
T37- Chris Jones – 75 & 74 = 149 (+5)
T43-Charles Dallery–78 & 75 = 153 (+9)
T52- Aaron Thomas– 80 & 76 = 156 (+12)
T61- Jake Kennedy – 83 & 76= 159 (+15)
