Men’s golf finishes strong in last tournament before SoCon Championship

Men’s golf traveled to Franklin, Tennessee, to compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt, this past weekend.

In the previous events of March, the Bucs finished 9th of 13 in the General Hackler Championship and followed with 2nd of 14 in the Schenkel Invitational.

“We had a pretty good weekend at two shots out of fourth in a pretty strong field, so we’re coming off two pretty good events,” said sophomore Jack Rhea (Jonesborough, Tennessee).

The Bucs finished the opening round of the Mason Rudolph Championship strong following sophomore Austin Carter (Kingsport, Tennessee) into the weekend.

After carding 11 pars and two bogeys, Carter improved things by registering four birdies over his final five of his first 13 holes, and moving into a tie for 18th at 2-under-69. Sophomore Shiso Go (Kanagawa, Japan) went on to finish even-par 71. Go birdied three of his first four holes and again on par-4, and tied the day at 34th.

Senior Geuntae Kim (Daegu, South Korea) and Rhea left the first day of events tied for 42 at 1-over-par 72.

Saturdays event saw Rhea leading with the strong finish and eyes on his eighth top-25 finish in the 2019 season. Rhea carded an eagle and two birdies over his final five holes, finishing 4-under-par 67. Rhea jumped 25 spots, tying 17th at 3-under-par 139 following 36 holes.

Go gained his second straight round of 71 as he tied for 28th at even-par 142. Kim tied for 45th at 2-over-par 144, and red-shirt junior Trevor Hulbert (Orlando, Florida) shot 1-over 72 tying for 56th at 4-over-par.

As a team, the Bucs shot a 2-under 282 on the second day of events and tied for ninth with Northwestern.

Sunday held the final day of events for the tournament with the Bucs finishing eighth at 1-over-par 853.

Rhea saw to his run at top-25 finishes, while carding a 1-under 70 in the final round and tied for 13th at 4-under par 209.

Rhea bagged 31 pars, 11 birdies and one eagle giving him his second straight top-15 finish.

Kim and Go tied at 42nd at 3-over-par 216, with Carter carding a 72 and Hulbert tying 53rd at 6-over-par 219.

“Playing well in a good, strong field, and playing well in general gives you confidence, so I feel good going into next weekend,” said Rhea.

Men’s golf will head into the Southern Conference Championship held in Pinehurst, North Carolina, starting on Sunday, April 21 through the following Tuesday.