The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team entered Sunday's final round of the Furman Intercollegiate in first place, but it could not hold off a hard charge by No. 18 Clemson finishing second to the Tigers. Freshman Steven Fox shared medalist honors with Clemson's Ben Martin with duo finishing at 210 (-6).

It is the first medalist for the Mocs since Jonathan Hodge turned the trick at the same event in 2008. Fox carded rounds of 70, 68 and 72 to Martin, a redshirt senior who was a finalist for the 2009 U.S. Amateur.

Fox did it in spectacular fashion. Down two to Martin, who also qualified for the 2009 U.S. Open, with one hole to play, Fox birdied while Martin bogeyed for a two-shot swing to tie. Due to travel, the two teams decided to share the medalist honor.

"What a great weekend for Steven," said head coach Mark Guhne. "He battled head-to-head to with a U.S. Amateur finalist and tied him. He's had to make some adjustments to the college game and has really been coming on.

"It's great to see that hard work rewarded."

The Mocs' three-stroke lead evaporated in the first six holes despite starting out at minus-five as Clemson tied UTC through six by opening at eight-under par as both teams stood at one-under par.

The two teams continued to battle. Through nine holes, the Mocs were even with a one shot advantage, but through 12 holes, Clemson knotted it up at plus-two as back-to-back birdies by Martin evened the individual battle with Fox as well with both sitting at minus-seven.

But as the Tigers turned it up a notch, the Mocs faltered. Clemson played the final six holes at two-under par to claim the win. The Tigers' final round total of 282, six-under par, is the low round of the tourney.

"Honestly, Clemson won it," added Guhne. "I take my hat off to them. They played lights out down the stretch and it would have taken an unworldly effort to beat them today. But I'm proud of our effort all week."

Clemson finished at one-over par 865 followed by Chattanooga at 879 (+15). Furman ended up third another 14 shots back at 893.

Derek Rende finished 17th after a final round 76 completed his tourney at 222 (+6). Stephan Jaeger's 224 (+8) placed him tied for 20th.

J.T. Clendenin wound up tied for 51st at 229 (+13), while Fredrik Qvicker tied for 60th at 230. Playing as individuals, Alex Ratliff tied Clendenin for 51st at 229 (+13), as Simon Forsslund played his 54 holes at 238 (+22) ending up tied for 108th.

Chattanooga returns to action next weekend at the Hootie at Bulls Bay. It starts with 36 holes on Sunday, March 28, and ends with a final 18 on Monday, March 29.

LEADERBOARD

1) No. 18 Clemson

289-294-282

865 (+1)

2) Chattanooga

289-291-299

879 (+15)

3) Furman

305-290-298

893 (+29)

4) Western Carolina

291-306-302

899 (+35)

T5) Old Dominion

293-298-312

903 (+39)

T5) Kennesaw State

304-301-298

903 (+39)

7) Virginia Tech

304-300-301

905 (+41)

T8) Wofford

305-295-307

907 (+43)

T8) Presbyterian

296-302-309

907 (+43)

T8) Charleston Southern

303-307-297

907 (+43)

11) East Carolina

303-312-293

908 (+44)

12) Mississippi State

302-302-305

909 (+45)

13) Samford

300-303-301

913 (+49)

14) Winthrop

303-306-306

915 (+51)

15) Gardner-Webb

303-304-309

916 (+52)

T16) Elon

308-303-306

917 (+53)

T16) UAB

310-301-306

917 (+53)

18) Davidson

313-306-301

920 (+56)

19) Francis Marion

312-309-301

922 (+58)

20) Appalachian State

313-313-307

933 (+69)

21) Troy

312-308-314

934 (+70)

22) Rhode Island

311-319-313

943 (+79)

23) Temple

312-325-315

952 (+88)

24) Marshall

315-321-325

961 (+97)

Mocs:

T1) Steven Fox

70-68-72

210 (-6)

17) Derek Rende

69-77-76

222 (+6)

T20) Stephan Jaeger

72-73-79

224 (+8)

T51) J.T. Clendenin

80-73-76

229 (+13)

T60) Fredrik Qvicker

78-77-75

230 (+14)

Individuals:

T51) Alex Ratliff

75-79-75

229 (+13)

T108) Simon Forsslund

80-79-79

238 (+22)

NOTES:

>The Mocs played with Clemson and Old Dominion.

>Front Nine (Counters by Round): -10 (-5/-2/-3).

>Back Nine: +25 (+6/+5/+14).

>A focus going into the tournament for the Mocs was to take advantage of the scoring opportunities available in the first six holes...Mission accomplished as UTC shot 20-under par for those holes.

>Freshman Steven Fox's 210 (-6) is his low 54-hole total for the season...First collegiate title...210 ties Stephan Jaeger for the team's low 54 holes...72 is his seventh par or better round of the season... He has been solid this Spring averaging 72.0 strokes per round in nine (648 strokes)...Fox won over 100 junior titles prior to enrolling at Chattanooga...Led the tournament in Par 4 scoring shooting minus-one (3.97).

>Senior Derek Rende has counted all 22 rounds this season...He was second in Par 5 scoring shooting nine-under (4.25)...Rende is the last freshman to win medalist honors for the Mocs prior to today (3/2007).

>As a team, Chattanooga led the tourney in eagles (4, tied with ODU), birdies (44) and Par 5 scoring (-25, 4.58).

>Eagles (Counters by Rounds): 4 (2/1/1). Rende 1 (1/0/0), Jaeger 1 (1/0/0), Clendenin 1 (0/1/0), Fox 1 (0/0/1).

>Birdies (Counters by Rounds): 37 (14/14/9). Fox 12 (4/6/2), Rende 12 (5/3/4), Qvicker 7 (3/3/1), Jaeger 7 (2/3/2), J.T. Clendenin 6 (2/2/2).

>Pars (Counters by Rounds): 122 (39/40/43). Fox 33 (12/10/11), Jaeger 31 (11/11/9), Clendenin 30 (8/11/11), Qvicker 29 (8/7/14), Rende 23 (8/8/7).

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