The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team finished 14th against a stellar field at the Southwestern Invitational. The Mocs shot 292 Wednesday to complete their 54 holes at Sherwood Country Club with an 888 total.
Chattanooga finished four strokes behind No. 11 Arizona in 13th and nine shy of No. 11 UCLA in 12th. Camden Braidech not only led the squad over the final 18 with 1-over 72, his 7-over 220 also paced the team for the event.
Fifth-ranked Texas came back for the win. The Longhorns trailed runner-up San Diego State by 13 after 18 holes and were two off the lead going into the final 18 held by UNLV. They ended up winning by one over the Aztecs and by four over third-place Vanderbilt, the 15th-ranked squad entering the week.
The Commodores' Wells Williams was medalist ending up at 5 under. That was one better than a trio at 4 under including top-ranked Daniel Bennett from Texas.
First Thought: “Obviously wasn’t the finish we wanted, but there are a lot of positives that came from this week. We beat some top 15 teams the last two rounds but can’t afford to dig ourselves a hole like we did in that first round, especially in a field like this. Time to reset and get ready for Charleston.” – Coach Blaine Woodruff
The Rundown
- 292 in the final round ties for the second lowest final score for the squad this season. Shot 291 (+11) in completing the win at the Qubein Cup.
- Braidech led the squad in scoring in a round for the seventh time in 15 cards. He entered the tournament ranked No. 91 in the NCAA ratings.
- 11 over in the last 36 holes topped two top 12 programs in #10 UCLA (+14) and #11 Arizona (+18) as well as USC (+12) and San Jose State (+17).
- Counting scores were 9 over through first 12 holes but closed at 1 under over the final six on the docket (holes 4-9).
- Five of the team’s 11 birdies came over those holes including three from Cohl on holes four, five and seven.
Lineup
Team: 14th, 309-287-292=888 (+36)
T40) Camden Braidech: 72-76-72=220 (+7)
T57) Carson Johnson: 76-68-81=225 (+12)
T63) Braedon Wear: 78-76-73=227 (+14)
T63) Aidan Cohl: 83-71-73=227 (+14)
T68) Ethan Whitaker: 83-72-74=229 (+16)
Next Up
Feb. 3-4: Battle at Briar’s Creek | G.C. at Briar’s Creek | Johns Island, S.C. (College of Charleston)