The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team had a good two days at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley. The quintet shot 2-under 282 over Tuesday’s final 18 to move into a third-place finish at the J.T. Poston Invitational with a total of 856 (+4).
The Mocs were led by Samuel Espinosa’s 68 (-3). The Spaniard registered five birdies on his card ending up tied for third with a 1-under 212. He birdied four of his first six holes putting the field on notice and leading the squad up the leaderboard.
He was joined in red numbers by Paul Conroy.
Conroy’s 1-under 70 was just ahead of John Houk’s level-par 71. Braedon Wear finished the team score with 73 as Garrett Engle’s 75 served as the drop. The team is averaging an impressive 74.00 for its drop score in the early going.
Espinosa’s tie for third wasn’t the only top 10. Conroy tied for ninth, two strokes behind him at 214. Wear tied for 19th two more back at 216 with Houk right behind with 217 in a tie for 24th. Engle also finished in the upper side of the 93-player field in a tie for 35th at 220.
Coastal Carolina claimed the narrow win with an 851 total. Host Western Carolina (853) was next followed by the Mocs ahead of Elon (857) and UNCW (861). Wilmington’s Walker Isley was medalist at 4 under.
The guys have a little time off before the next event. They return to the tee Oct. 15-16 at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate in Raleigh, N.C. Live scoring links will be available on the GoMocs.com men’s golf schedule page.
J.T. Poston Invite
Sept. 26-27 (Mon-Tue) | Sapphire, N.C.
Lineup
3rd of 17: 288-286-282=856 (+4)
T3) Samuel Espinosa: 71-73-68=212 (-1)
T9) Paul Conroy: 73-71-70=214 (+1)
T19) Braedon Wear: 73-70-73=216 (+3)
T24) John Houk: 74-72-71=217 (+4)
T35) Garrett Engle: 71-74-75=220 (+7)