Hilton Head Island, S.C. – Tied for 34th after the completion of the second round on Tuesday morning, Western Carolina freshman Jake Peacock climbed a team-best 13 spots over the final 18 holes to lead the Catamount scoring five in an eight-way tie for 21st overall with a three-round score of 220 at the Wexford Intercollegiate, held at the par-72, 6,913-yard Wexford Plantation.
 
WCU concluded the tournament in a two-way tie for ninth place in the 17-team field, posting its seventh, top 10 finish of the 2021-22 season.
 
Peacock countered four bogeys with a pair of birdies in a 2-over par 74 second round before recording four birdies against a double-bogey and a bogey in a 1-under par 71 in the final round. He finished with a stroke average of 73.33, shooting 4-over par 220.
 
WCU sophomore Presten Richardson and freshman Kyle Kushnir both finished tied for 37th with matching scores of 7-over par 223. Kushnir climbed five spots in the final round with a 1-over par round of 73 while Richardson, one of just eight golfers to card an eagle in the tournament, matched his second round 74 with a 2-over par 74 over the final 18 holes.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are junior Magnus Pedersen in a tie for 51st overall at 227 with senior Tumi Kúld coming home tied for 85th after his best round of the event, an even-par 72 on Tuesday. Pedersen finished tied for second with 14 birdies over the 54-hole tournament and finished at 1-under par in par-3 scoring.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, freshman Kiefer Bulau finished tied for 87th with a three-round score of 247.
 
Second after 36 holes, tournament-host Francis Marion claimed the team championship by a stroke over Southern Conference foe Furman, 866-to-867. Augusta climbed two spots in the final standings to finish third, four strokes off the pace at 870, with East Carolina and Mercer tying for fourth at 871.
 
Mercer put two atop the individual leaderboard as 37th-ranked Tobias Jonsson edged his teammate Martin Plukka by a stroke, 212-to-213, to claim individual medalist honors.
 
Western Carolina returns to action next Friday and Saturday as it plays host to the Sea Palms Collegiate at the Sea Palms Resort in St. Simon Island, Ga. The 54-hole tournament includes 36 holes of continuous play on Friday, March 4 with the final round set for Saturday, March 5, with live scoring made available online through GolfStat.com.
 
T9 – Western Carolina – 296 – 303 – 290 = 889 (+25)
T21 – Jake Peacock – 75 – 74 – 71 = 220 (+4)
T37 – Presten Richardson – 75 – 74 – 74 = 223 (+7)
T37 – Kyle Kushnir – 75 – 75 – 73 = 223 (+7)
T51 – Magnus Pedersen – 71 – 80 – 76 = 227 (+11)
T85 – Tumi Kúld – 90 – 84 – 72 = 246 (+30)
T87 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 80 – 82 – 85 = 247 (+31)