Site: Spartanburg, SC
Course: Carolina Country Club (Par 72, 7,069 yards)
Tournament: Carolina Collegiate Invite
HPU Team Standing: 1st of 12 teams (285-272-288-845, -19)
Top HPU Individual: Avery Price, T7th (72-68-72-212, -4)
Next HPU Round: Saturday, October 16 -- at Wolfpack Intercollegiate (Raleigh, NC)
FINAL RESULTS
SPARTANBURG, SC. – The Panthers withstood a final-day rally to win their first tournament since fall of 2019 at the Musgrove Mill Intercollegiate in Clinton, SC.
The Panthers grinded out an even-par round of 288 to finish at -19 for the tournament and held off challenger Florida Gulf Coast by two strokes. The Panther final 54-hole score of 845 set the program record for the lowest 54-hole total score in HPU history, breaking the prior mark set in 2020-21 at the Raines Intercollegiate by one stroke. All five Panther men's golfers had their scores count for at least one round during this tournament and the Panthers returned back to High Point as champions of the Carolina Collegiate Invitational.
Brady Gregor: "It's hard to win in college golf, but after what this team did yesterday it's exciting to see them get to also celebrate a win. Couldn't be more proud of them and if they start believing how good they are we can play with anyone in the country. This was a team win and without what Stuart did yesterday we wouldn't of been in a position to win today. Really was a complete team win and I couldn't be more proud. We will enjoy it but look to also take this momentum over to NC State this weekend with a quick turnaround."
Panther Finish
T-7 Avery Price -4 (72-68-72)
T-11 Christian Castillo -3 (72-69-72)
T-20 Gregor Meyer E (78-67-71)
T-23 Charlie Barr +1 (74-70-73)
T-28 Adam Hooker (i) +2 (76-70-72)
T-33 Stuart Fuller +3 (67-68-84)
Avery Price :"We knew today was not a "Gimmie" the tournament would have to be earned. As a team we accepted the challenge and when adversity hit we stood our ground firm. This team is a gritty group and we put that on display today"
Final Round Drama
The Panthers were led by Gregor Meyer, who had the only under-par round of the day for the Panthers at 1-under 71. Meyer got off to a slow start with a double bogey on the par-4 2nd but responded with birdies on holes 4 and 6 to get back to even par. Those bogeys were the only two blemishes on his card and Meyer capped off his round with a birdie on hole 16 to complete his scoring for the day.
The Panthers second and third counted scores were a pair of even-par rounds of 72 and they belonged to Avery Price and Christian Castillo. Price had a seesaw round that included four bogeys and four birdies, however, he never fell more than 1 over par at any point in his round. He capped off his round with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.
Castillo started quickly with three birdies in his first five holes, mixed in with a bogey to get to 2-under par.
However, a bogey on the 7th hole, followed by a tough double bogey on the long par-3 8th dropped him back to 1-over. Castillo responded with birdies on two of his next four holes to get to 1-under par. A bogey on 14 dropped him back to even, but he grinded our 4 straight pars to finish with a 72 on the day. The last Panther scorer of the final round was Charlie Barr who shot a 1-over 73. Barr birdied the 5th hole to get to -1 but also struggled with a double bogey on hole 8.
Barr had back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 to fall to 3-over with only 4 holes to play. However, Barr responded with birdies on holes 16 and 18 to finish at 1-over and help secure a Panther victory.
Adam Hooker, competing as an individual, fired an even-par round of 72 which was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 18th hole. Stuart Fuller, who was in 2nd place overall after two rounds struggled in the final round and shot a 12-over 84.
Tale of the Tape
High Point had immense success in par-4 and par-5 scoring, the latter of which was an area of emphasis for the Panthers after the Badger Invitational. The Panthers were second in the tournament in par-4 scoring with an average of 4.03 and only +5 for the tournament. The Panthers also finished second in par-5 scoring average at 4.67 and -20 for the tournament.
Win #4
This is Coach Gregor's fourth career win as head coach of the Panthers and this win ties the program record of career wins for all HPU men's golf coaches.
Up Next
The Panthers will take little time between tournaments as they wrap up fall break with another two-day 54-hole stroke play event this upcoming weekend. HPU heads to Raleigh for the Wolfpack Intercollegiate hosted by North Carolina State on October 16-17.
#RollPoint x #GoHPU
