Palm City, Fla. – Western Carolina sophomore Presten Richardson recorded the best finish of his collegiate career on Tuesday afternoon, pacing the Catamounts with a runner-up finish at the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate. The individual leader after 36 holes – and much of the final round – Richardson slid into second place late in going as the Catamounts finished tied for sixth overall in the 2022 spring-opening tournament at the par-72, 7,169-yard Hammock Creek Golf Club.
 
Bogey-free through 37 consecutive holes that included carding a combined 10 birdies, Richardson charted his first bogey of the event on the par-4 fifth, countering his 1-under start just two holes into the final round. He rebounded to par the next nine holes before again moving to 1-under with his second birdie of the day.
 
However, the Miller, Mo., product stumbled through holes No. 16-18 with a double-bogey and consecutive bogeys, respectively, to turn for home and the final three holes of the tournament at 3-over par. Richardson shot even-par over the final trio to secure his best individual finish, shooting 3-over par 75 for the day and 6-under par 210 for the tournament.
 
All told, Richardson finished tied for fourth in the field with both 39 pars and 11 birdies over the 54-hole event as the Catamounts finished tied with Creighton with a tournament-best 46 total birdies. Along the way, Richardson matched a career-low round of 5-under 67 on Monday, while posting his second career Top 10, improving on the fifth-place tie at the Wofford Invitational last spring. Richardson also finished ahead of ranked golfers No. 29 Tobias Jonsson of Mercer in third and UNCG's Nick Lyerly, the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 18.
 
JP Miller of George Mason rallied with a final-round score of 3-under par 69 to claim individual medalist honors by two strokes with a three-day score of 208.

Behind Richardson, senior Tumi Kúld slid three spots into a tie for 23rd overall at 221 after a final-round, 3-over par 75. Junior Magnus Pedersen came home in a tie for 50th, climbing 10 spots in the final standings with a third-round 75 and a total of 228 while freshman Kyle Kushnir advanced five positions into a tie for 55th at 229. Both Kúld and Pedersen posted 10 birdies in the spring-opener. Rounding out WCU's scoring five was freshman Jake Peacock who posted his best round of the week with a 3-over par 75 to move up a team-best 15 positions into a tie for 94th overall at 236.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, Canadian-born freshman Kiefer Bulau moved up five positions into a tie for 74th overall at 233 following a final-round 78, while junior Quinton Metz advanced seven spots into 108th (241).
 
Southern Conference foe UNCG won the team championship as the host school, edging two-day leader Creighton by three strokes, 870-to-873. Behind Miller's efforts, George Mason rallied three spots to finish third overall at 880 with Connecticut (881) and another conference opponent, Mercer (885) rounding out the top five. WCU was tied with Drexel for sixth with matching team scores of 887.
 
Western Carolina returns to action next week at the Wexford Invitational, hosted by Francis Marion at the par-72, 6,912-yard Wexford Plantation on Hilton Head Island, S.C. The 54-hole tournament is slated for two days with 36 holes on Feb. 21 with the final round on Feb. 22. Live scoring of the tournament will be available online through GolfStat.com.
 
T6 – Western Carolina – 284 – 303 – 300 = 887 (+23)
2 – Presten Richardson – 68 – 67 – 75 = 210 (-6)
T23 – Tumi Kúld – 70 – 76 – 75 = 221 (+5)
T50 – Magnus Pedersen – 74 – 79 – 75 = 228 (+12)
T55 – Kyle Kushnir – 72 – 81 – 76 = 229 (+13)
T94 – Jake Peacock – 76 – 85 – 75 = 236 (+20)
T75 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 77 – 78 – 78 = 233 (+17)
108 – Quinton Metz (ind.) – 76 – 86 – 79 = 241 (+25)