ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- High Point University men's golf teammates and brothers Alec Weary and Drew Weary were back on the course in competition this past weekend, competing in the 48th South Carolina Amateur Match Play at Orangeburg Country Club in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
Drew shot a one-under 143 in the two rounds of stroke play qualifying to reach the round of 32 in match play while Alec missed the cut by two strokes with a +1, 145.
 
Drew's first round in the stroke play on Wednesday (June 17) started strong as he birdied three holes on the front to make the turn at -3. A stretch of four straight bogeys on the back pulled him out of the red numbers but he made it back to even par with a birdie on the 18th. The younger Weary made the turn under par again in his second round (June 18), with two birdies and a bogey in his first nine holes to sit one-under for the tournament. That's where he finished after a pair of bogeys and birdies, including birdieing 18 for the second day in a row to secure his spot in the match play bracket.
 
Weary was paired against N.C. State golfer Christian Salzer in the round of 32 and Weary took the 2018 South Carolina Amateur Match Play champion to 19 holes. Weary trailed for the majority of the round but the deficit never got above two down. Weary stormed back late in the round, taking two of the last three holes, including his third birdie on 18, to tie the match and force the playoff, where he ultimately fell.
 
"It was good to be back competing again - especially being in a match play event it allows you to free yourself up a little more and be aggressive," Drew had to say. "I played well in qualifying and although getting a top seed would have been great, just getting into match play was all that mattered and that was what I did. It was a hard-fought match that came down to the last hole and then an extra hole. I hit the ball great but a missed a few putts early in the round that were crucial to the match."
 
Alec had a stronger first round in the stroke play portion of the event than his younger brother by one stroke, shooting a 71 in the opening 18 holes to enter the second round at one-under par. He traded birdies and bogeys in four of his first five holes of the competition before picking up a birdie on the par-5 8th to make the turn one-under, where he ended the day after a birdie on 13 and a bogey on 15. Alec shot one-under on the front again in round two thanks to birdies on 2 and 7 but three unanswered bogeys on the final nine holes of stroke play pushed him out of a qualifying position for the match play bracket.
 
"It was great to get back competing this past week at the South Carolina Match Play," the elder Weary said after the weekend. "Even though things didn't go as planned, there were many positives to take into these upcoming tournaments to finish the summer off strong."
 
Both Weary brothers will be back in the Purple and White competing for HPU in the 2020-21 season. Drew is a rising junior while Alec was a senior last year and is returning for one more year using the NCAA Season of Competition Waiver given to 2020 spring sport student-athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.