Ooltewah, Tenn. – Junior Tumi Kúld posted Western Carolina's best individual round of the season-opening 54-hole Scenic City Collegiate on Tuesday by carding an even-par round of 72, climbing 19 spots in the final standings to finish tied for 28th overall. Sophomore Pierre Viallaneix led WCU with a 25th-place showing as the Catamounts came home ninth overall in their first event of the revised fall schedule at par-72, 7,311-yard The Honors Course.
 
Kúld countered a trio of bogeys with three birdies over the final 18 holes, bouncing back from a 2-over par start to his day. He finished the three-round event with a score of 234 (80-82-72), pacing WCU in par-3 scoring at 2-over (3.17) for the event.
 
After leading the Catamounts after the first day of competition, Viallaneix finished a team-best 25th overall with a score of 232 (80-76-76). The Apopka, Fla., native made the turn for home at even-par by countering an opening hole bogey with a birdie on the par-3 16th. He moved to 1-under for the round with six holes to play, but struggled down the stretch on the tough course, finishing with a pair of double-bogeys and a bogey to relegate him to 4-over for the round.
 
All told, Viallaneix finished tied for second in the tournament with 35 pars, adding five birdies including two on Tuesday. Kúld added 31 pars over WCU's first competitive 54 holes since mid-March.
 
Freshman Presten Richardson came home tied for 41st overall in his first collegiate event, carding nine pars and nine bogeys on Tuesday. Richardson led WCU in par-5 scoring for the tournament at 1-under (4.92), shooting 240 (82-77-81) for the event.
 
Rounding out WCU's scorers was junior Louis Theys in a tie for 44th (89-74-81=241), sophomore Magnus Pedersen in a tie for 50th (82-78-84=244), and senior Michael Coe in 61st (89-85-96=270). Theys finished with five birdies while Pedersen carded four.
 
Tied for the team lead after 36 holes, UAB edged Southern Conference member, ETSU, for the team championship by six strokes. The Blazers finished with a three-round score of 878 while the Buccaneers finished at 884. Georgia Southern and Little Rock finished tied for third with matching scores of 893 while tournament host, Chattanooga, rounded out the top five with a score of 911.
 
Georgia Southern's Ben Carr rallied eight spots in the final standings to claim individual medalist honors, posting a tournament-low final round of 4-under par, 68, for a three-round score of even-par, 216. He was two strokes ahead of runner-up, Kavish Varadan of UAB, who moved for an 11th-place tie into second with a final round of 69 and a total of 218.
 
Western Carolina returns to action in the J.T. Poston Invitational, an event traditionally hosted each fall by the Catamounts at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley. This year, though, the tournament lends its name to an event hosted by the Cateechee Club in Hartwell, Ga. The three-day, 54-hole tournament gets underway Sunday, Sept. 27.
 
    9    Western Carolina        324-305-307 = 936 (+72)
  25    Pierre Viallaneix            80-76-76 = 232 (+16)
T28    Tumi Kúld                      80-82-72 = 234 (+18)
T41    Presten Richardson       82-77-81 = 240 (+24)
T44    Louis Theys                   89-74-78 = 241 (+25)
T50    Magnus Pedersen         82-78-84 = 244 (+28)
  61    Michael Coe                   89-85-96 = 270 (+54)