BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – In its lone home competition of the season, the West Virginia University men’s golf team jumped four spots to take fourth place at the Mountaineer Intercollegiate, hosted at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on Tuesday .
The Mountaineers carded a team score of 298-286-294=878 for 14 over par. Arkansas took home the team title at six under par (858), followed by Mississippi State at five over (869). Akron finished three strokes ahead of West Virginia for third place at 11 over par (875).
After fog delayed the first round on Monday, the second round was called midway through due to darkness. Golfers finished the second round Tuesday morning before embarking on the third and final round.
“That was our goal – finish in the top five,” said WVU coach Sean Covich. “We had so many talented teams here. Arkansas, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, James Madison… it was a really good field. Our goal is always to finish in the top five so to finish fourth, I’m really proud of the guys for a good effort this week.”
Alan Cooke posted back-to-back rounds under par to jump into the top 10, finishing ninth overall. After carding a 74 for two over on Monday, he registered five birdies to shoot one under in the second round before adding six more to finish one under in the second as well. Cooke ended the tournament with a three-round score of 74-71-71=216 for even par.
Freshman Etienne Papineau notched his second consecutive top-20 finish, firing a 71-71-76=218 for two over par. He registered five birdies across the final 36 holes of play to tie for 15th place, the best finish thus far in his young career.
Playing as an individual, Tristan Nicholls tied for 29th place with a score of 222 for six over par. After finishing the first round two over par, he used five birdies to finish two under in the second. However, he struggled in the third and finished six over to end the tournament six over par at 74-70-76. Teammate Chris Williams, part of the WVU scoring squad, tied Nicholls at six over par. He ended the first round at five over par but bounced back to finish two under in the second before carding a score three over par in the final. Williams shot 77-70-75=222 in the event.
Max Sear overcame a rocky start to tie for 39th place overall. After shooting six over par in the first round, he used an eagle and three birdies to shoot three over in the second before recording four birdies in the third to finish even par. Sear shot 78-75-72=225 for nine over par.
In his first outing for the Mountaineers, Drew Dewald finished tied for 48th place with a score of 76-74-77=227 for 11 over par. Playing as an individual, Jon Ransone was five strokes back from Dewald with a score of 79-75-78=232. He ended the event 16 over par and tied for 61st place.
Cole Hand tied for 66th in the tournament, shooting 81-73-81=235 and 19 over par. He tied with Avery Schneider, who also finished 19 over with a scorecard that showed 81-74-80=235.
Making his collegiate debut, Ty Olinger shot 83-77-83=243 for 27 over par and 75th place.
Patrick Flavin of Miami (OH) was the medalist, shooting six under par at 68-69-73=210. Ryan Cole of James Madison and J.B. Williams of Akron each shot five under par with a final score of 211.
The Mountaineers will finish out their fall schedule in two weeks when the team travels to Vero Beach, Florida, for the Quail Valley Intercollegiate on Oct. 24-25 at the Quail Valley Golf and River Club.
