Shooting a 295 for their best single-round team score of the week, East Tennessee State placed ninth following the final round of the Puerto Rico Classic Tuesday at the Rio Mar Country Club in Palmer, Puerto Rico.
Bolstered by a 2-under-par 70 in the final round –the best individual round score for a Buccaneer player in the event –sophomore Chase Baldwin finished tied for 24th with scores of 76-76-70–212. Baldwin was joined by ETSU senior James Johnson, who also finished tied for 24th (76-73-73–212).
While Oklahoma State pulled away for a 10-stroke victory over Minnesota in the team standings, the Bucs finished ahead of national golf powers like No. 15 Georgia, No. 12 Duke and No. 14 Purdue, and they tied with No. 13 Northwestern. ETSU finished with a final team score of 32-over-par, 300-301-295–896.
Along with Baldwin and Johnson, sophomore Cennydd Mills finished 50th (76-76-75–227), true freshman Derek McNamara placed 56th (72-81-77–230), and sophomore Jeremy Hobson finished the event in 65th (79-76-78–233).
N.C. State’s Justin Walters and Texas’ Jason Hartwick tied for first place in the event after carding three-round scores of 5-under-par 211, followed by a batch of five players that finished third.
The Bucs will play again on March 10-11 at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Fla.

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