UTC Wins Its Third Title of the Season. Picture is from Cleveland Palmetto Intercollegiate.

Courtesy: GoMocs.com

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Final Results

GREENVILLE, S.C. --- On a cold spring afternoon, No. 13 Chattanooga held on to win the Furman Intercollegiate leading from start-to-finish.  The Mocs shot a final round 296 (+8) to hold off No. 23 Clemson by three shots and No. 16 South Carolina by eight. 

Jonathan Hodge shot 71 (-1) to finish the 54-hole event at three-under par (213) to claim his third title of the season.  The third win sets a new school record for wins in a season.  It is also his third career victory which ties former teammate Bryce Ledford for the school record in that category.

Going into Sunday’s final round, Chattanooga saw its one-shot lead expand as teams completed suspended second rounds.  With 18 to play, the Mocs led the Tigers by five shots and USC by six at the Furman University Golf Club.

Through nine holes, nothing changed.  All three programs shot one-over par as a team on the front side. 

“We did not take advantage of an opportunity to build on our lead,” said Head Coach Mark Guhne.  “It just made our task that much harder.”

The back side proved to be a bear, but the Mocs held off Clemson to claim their third title of the year.  That is one win shy of the school record of four wins set last season. 

The Mocs placed six players in the top 30 led by Hodge’s three-under par effort.  Ben Rickett shot 220 (+4) to finish in the top 10 for the second straight tournament as he tied for 10th.

The other three team members placed in the top 20.  Fredrik Qvicker was tied for 14th at five-over par (221), while Derek Rende ended up tied for 16th at 222 (+6).  J.T. Clendenin tied for 20th at seven-over par (223).

Eric Forsman played as an individual player shooting eight-over par 224 finishing tied for 26th.  Thirteen of the 24 teams did not have a finisher higher than Forsman.  As a team, UTC shot 874 (+10).

“It was not a pretty win,” added Guhne.  “It was a gutsy win.  I couldn’t be prouder of the effort.”

Chattanooga returns to action in a little over a week traveling to Madison, Miss., for the Bank of America Intercollegiate.  Ole Miss is hosting the event, April 7-8, at the Reunion Golf and Country Club.

NOTES

>The Mocs played the Par 5 holes at 36-under par for the tourney led by Ben Rickett at nine-under par.

>The last time the Mocs led going into the final round was the win March 10-11 at the Cleveland Palmetto Intercollegiate.

>This is the fourth tournament Chattanooga has led following the first round (Scenic City Invitational, VCU Shootout and Cleveland Palmetto Intercollegiate) this season.  In those events, the Mocs have two wins (Palmetto & Furman), one second (Scenic City) and a third-place finish (VCU).

>The Mocs are 14-0-0 this season against conference schools (Appalachian State, Davidson, Elon, Furman, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina & Wofford), with a 597-stroke advantage in five different tournaments.  Since a third-place finish in the 2006 SoCon Championships, Chattanooga is 40-0-0 (1,213 shots) against conference opponents (26-0-0/616 shots in 2006-07 season).

>TOURNAMENT FIELD (Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings Index):  Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, (13) CHATTANOOGA, (23) Clemson, Davidson, East Carolina, Elon, Francis Marion, Furman, Marshall, (45) North Florida, (50) Ohio State, Old Dominion, Presbyterian, Rhode Island, Samford, (16) South Carolina, UNC Wilmington, USC Aiken, (43) Vanderbilt, (33) Virginia Tech, Western Carolina, Winthrop, Wofford