UTC's Camden Braidech earned a 10th place finish with a score of 4-under par
photo by Andy Mead/GoMocs.com
The Chattanooga Mocs emerged from the fog, both literally and figuratively, at the Battle at Briar’s Creek hosted by College of Charleston in Johns Island, S.C.
After fog delayed Monday’s round by three hours, the UTC golfers rebounded from a frustrating start to battle back for an 8th place finish in the 54-hole event held at the Golf Course at Briar’s Creek.
The Mocs played the final 36 holes at 6 under, the best 36 holes vs. par this season. In fact, Chattanooga finished in a tie for second with Elon and Wake Forest over the final two rounds, trailing only tournament champion N.C. State.
Camden Braidech surged into the top 10 individually with a 4-under total of 212. N.C. State captured the win shooting 19-under 845, six shots better than College of Charleston at 13-under 851. The trio of Garrett Risner (Elon), Kian Rose (Clemson) and Michael Vick (N.C. State) tied for first turning in 7 under.
“We’re proud of how the guys fought back the last 40+ holes,” UTC men’s coach Blaine Woodruff said. “We were 13 over at one point near the end of the first round, but they stopped the bleeding and clawed back for the rest of the event. We gotta clean up some things and be more consistent for all 54 holes if we want to win more events. We gotta keep learning and growing and try to be better tomorrow than we were today. We focus on that, and we will be just fine. We’re excited for another opportunity next week.”
After opening on holes 5-8 each round, the Mocs found themselves at 13 over after completing the back nine of the first round. The squad rallied to shoot 6 under for the remaining holes after flipping to the front side to close the opening day at 7 over. Over roughly their final 40 holes, UTC combined to shoot 12 under to close at 1 over 865. They played the back nine at 13 over and front side at 12 under over the three rounds.
Braidech played par or better all three rounds, his first tournament turning that trick. His 4-under 212 is his best against par thus far, while his win at the Qubein Cup in the fall is the best total 207 (-3). He now has a team-high seven par or better cards and two par or better results. He also leads the team in rounds in the 60s with three after his final round 69.
Braedon Wear matched Braidech for low round by a Moc completing his second 18 today at 69. That card and his final 72 give him 35 career par or better 18s. Wear’s 2-under 214 (T18) is his first par or better finish of 2024-25.
The squad was 2 under on the par 4s via the counting cards for the week, also a new season best. The 41 birdies made ranks behind the 46 at the Steelwood Collegiate thus far.
A big part of the equation bouncing back from their start was the fact the Mocs did not record a score higher than bogey over the final 36 holes on the counting cards.
Other scores posted by Chattanooga included Garrett Engle at 3 over 219 (T38) and Aidan Cohl at 9 over 225 (T58). Ethan Whitaker was the drop score at 11 over 227.
Dalton Chuba shot a final round 70 in the neighboring individual competition, The Stono, to finish tied for 25th at 7 over 223. Carson Johnson was 33rd with a final tally of 16 over 232.
Battle at Briar’s Creek Team Scores:
1) NC State: 280-285-280=845
2) Charleston: 279-285-287=851
3) West Virginia: 281-282-290=853
4) Clemson: 278-293-283=854
tie) Elon: 284-283-287=854
tie) Wake Forest: 284-289-281=854
7) ETSU: 283-290-283=856
8) Chattanooga: 295-284-286=865
9) Campbell: 289-283-298=870
10) UAB: 287-298-287=872
11) Augusta: 290-304-286=880
12) High Point: 303-294-290=887
tie) Maryland: 292-293-302=887
14) VCU: 297-294-303=894
Next Up: The Mocs will travel to Houston, Texas on Feb. 10-11 to compete in the Bentwater Intercollegiate staged on the Miller Course hosted by Rice University.