The Chattanooga Mocs made a final round charge but could not make up the ground tying for fourth at the General Hackler Championships. The group shot 3-over 867 for the tournament with a final round tally of 284 (-4) at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club.
John Houk headlined the group with his fourth top 5 of the season and second straight runner-up finish. He fired a 4-under 68 today for a 7-under total of 209. That ended up one behind Louisville’s Max Kennedy’s 208. Kennedy’s win earned a sponsor exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Myrtle Beach Classic May 9-12.
Houk started his day in a tie for fifth, four strokes off the pace a 3 under.
He shook off his second round 74 quickly with a birdie on one and four red numbers in his opening eight holes. A bogey on nine had him four shots back with the back nine waiting.
He sandwiched birdies at 13 and 15 around a misstep on 14 to go with six pars to finish at 7 under and wait. Second round leader Clark Akers hit a tough stretch coming in to drop into a tie for third at 6 under. The Cardinals Cooper Claycomb bogeyed 18 to fall out of tie with Houk joining Akers.
It was the consistent Kennedy holding on for the win. He was six holes behind Houk and sat at 7 under until birdie at 15 propelled him into the lead. Kennedy finished par-par-par to grab the win and tour berth.
Paul Conroy added a 2-under 70 to today’s card with Dalton Chuba close behind at 71. Chuba’s round was a wild ride with an eagle, six birdies, five bogeys and a double over 18 holes. Braedon Wear’s 75 closed the counting cards with Samuel Espinosa’s 77 serving as the drop.
Conroy and Espinosa had solid weeks tying for 20th at 3-over 219. Their scores were 3.81 strokes better than the field’s average over 240 cards. Chuba ended up with 224, three ahead of Wear at 227.
"There was some good stuff this week from our guys," Coach Blaine Woodruff began. "John had a really solid week, Sam and Paul put some good rounds together, and we had a nice final round from Dalton. We were the low round on the first day and second lowest today, but we still haven't put three good ones together yet.
"It's hard to win if you don't do that. I was proud of our fight today to make a charge. We gotta learn what we can and get to work for Missouri. It's close to clicking."
Louisville claimed the team title with a 5-under total of 859. Host Coastal Carolina was second at even par followed by Furman in third at 1 over. The Mocs and 15th-ranked ETSU tied for fourth ahead of College of Charleston in sixth at 4 over.
Chattanooga has nearly three weeks to prepare for the home stretch. Next up is the Tiger Collegiate Invitational in Columbia, Mo. The 2-day, 54-hole affair is April 8-9 at the Club at Old Hawthorne.
General Hackler Collegiate
March 18-20 (Mon-Wed) | Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dunes Golf & Beach Club | Par 72 | 7,233 yards | 54 holes (18/day)
1) (48) Louisville: 286-290-283=859 (-5)
2) Coastal Carolina: 294-280-290=864 (E)
3) Furman: 292-288-285=865 (+1)
4) (33) Chattanooga: 286-297-284=867 (+3)
tie) (15) ETSU: 287-290-290=867 (+3)
6) College of Charleston: 288-293-287=868 (+4)
7) (28) North Florida: 294-294-285=873 (+9)
8) San Francisco: 296-289-289=874 (+10)
9) Kent State: 300-290-286=876 (+12)
tie) Little Rock: 296-294-286=876 (+12)
11) Liberty: 290-294-293=877 (+13)
12) UNCW: 288-304-294=886 (+22)
13) Western Carolina: 299-315-302=916 (+52)
14) Charleston Southern: 308-313-311=932 (+68)
Chattanooga Lineup
2) John Houk: 67-74-68=209 (-7)
T20) Samuel Espinosa: 72-70-77=219 (+3)
T20) Paul Conroy: 73-76-70=219 (+3)
T46) Dalton Chuba: 76-77-71=224 (+8)
T60) Braedon Wear: 74-78-75=227 (+11)
Field (Top 100 ranking)
(33) Chattanooga, (71) College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, (15) ETSU, (92) Furman, (89) Kent State, (87) Liberty, (93) Little Rock, (48) Louisville, (79) UNCW, (28) North Florida, (82) San Francisco & Western Carolina