April 12, 2009
UK Bluegrass Invitational - Final Results
Lexington, Ky. -
Western Carolina put all four scorers inside the top 20, including two inside the top 10 as seniors Andres Cuenca and Dustin Furnari both finished tied for ninth as the Catamounts held onto the runner-up position they held after the opening two rounds at the UK Bluegrass Invitational.
The host Kentucky Wildcats won the team championship by 10 strokes over the Catamounts, who posted their sixth-straight sub-300 round on Sunday at 299 on the par 72, 6,992-yard Big Blue Course at the University Club to finish with a 54-hole score of 890.
Western Carolina finished better than four teams that are ranked ahead of it in the GolfStat standings, including besting third-place finisher, Central Florida, by six strokes, 890-to-896. The Golden Knights entered the weekend ranked 23rd in the country. Austin Peay State and Ohio finished tied for fourth at 903 to round out the top five finishing teams.
Erik Barnes of Austin Peay posted a tournament-low round of 67 in the final round to win the individual medalist honors by three strokes over second-place Chad Warmbein from Ohio. Barnes shot a three-round, one-under 215 while Warmbein was two-over at 218. Matt Schneider of Bowling Green finished third despite a four-over 76 in the final round while Kentucky's Ben Fuqua, who led through the opening two rounds, posted a five-over, 77, on Sunday to round out the top four finishers with a four-over, 220.
Battling gusting winds on Sunday, Cuenca carded a five-over 77 for a three-round total of 223, which was matched by classmate Furnari with 74 over the final 18. The duo finished amidst a six-way tie for ninth place in posting top 10 finishes.
Tanner Briele, who was tied with Cuenca in third place after the first two rounds, finished in a four-way tie for 15th after a six-over 78 in the final round. Rounding out WCU's finishers was Ricky Stout with a top 20 finish, tied for 19th at 225, and Martin Summer rallying from 68th-place after Saturday with a team-low 73 on Sunday to move to 45th on the field.
The weekend tournament concludes Western's regular season spring schedule. The Catamounts will turn their attention to the 2009 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, April 19-21 at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, S.C. The 54-hole event will be spread over three days.
