The Bobcats men’s golf team moved up two places on the leaderboard Tuesday and finished in 12th place at the Wexford Plantation Invitational with a team score of 925, just two strokes out of 11th place.
Coach Bob Cooley said before the tournament that the Wexford Golf Course is easier than it was in the past because the greens were recently replaced.
Senior Paul Grauer shot a 77 in the third round to finish tied for 18th place.
Junior Byron Firestone also contributed to the Bobcats’ cause. Firestone had the team’s only eagle of the tournament and carded a 71 for the third round. He ended up finishing in a five-way tie for 23rd place.
Firestone shaved eight strokes off his second-round total of 79. His score of 71 was the best of the day for the Bobcats and five strokes below his average.
The Bobcats started the tournament shooting 319 as a team in the first round. In the second round, Ohio rebounded and shot a 303 to finish in 14th place. Ohio again shot a 303 in the third and final round on Tuesday to move up two slots.
Junior Brad Lucas had the best turnaround for Ohio in the third round, which led to the Bobcats’ improvement on the leader board.
Lucas fired a hefty 92 in the second round and rebounded with a 78 in the third to stabilize Ohio’s team score.
Ohio’s third-round score was better than Samford’s and Radford’s. The two schools finished ahead of the Bobcats, in 11th and 10th place, respectively.
Ohio also finished in front of DePaul and Marshall, who took part in Ohio’s match play event in Hilton Head, S.C. last weekend.
Georgia State won the invitational by posting an overall score of 892 and finishing six strokes in front of the nearest competitor.
The Bobcats will not compete again until March 22, when they take on Campbell at Pinehurst Country Club.
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