Burlington, N.C. – Western Carolina men's golf posted its second Top Three finish of the fall semester on Tuesday, coming home as the tournament runner-up at the Elon Phoenix Invitational held at the par-71, 6,871-yard Alamance Country Club.
 
Leading after 36 holes on Monday, the Catamounts were unable to hold off the hard-charging tournament hosts as Elon blistered their home course with a second-consecutive round of 271 on Tuesday to claim the team championship by 10 strokes over WCU. With a three-round score of 831, the Catamounts posted the third-best, 54-hole team score in program history just behind the 822 carded at the 2023-24 season-opening Golfweek Fall Challenge and the 825 posted at the EKU Intercollegiate in the fall of 2021.
 
Freshman Jace Butcher carded the best final-round score for the Catamounts with a round of 2-under par 69, gaining two spots into a tie for 12th for a career-best finish. Butcher countered a pair of bogeys through his first five holes with four birdies over the remaining 13 to finish the round at 2-under and the event at 5-under, 208.
 
Western Carolina was led by redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez in a four-way tie for sixth with a two-day total of 206, a stroke ahead of fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen who finished in a two-way tie for 10th-place.
 
Two strokes over par through the front nine on Tuesday, Hernandez quickly moved back to even-par with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 10th and 11th. He then shot an eagle on the par-5 12th to sit at 2-under with six holes to play. The Madrid, Spain, product finished the round with a bogey and five pars to shoot 1-under 70 for a three-round score of 206. Pedersen finished with a 1-over par 72 on Tuesday for a final score of 207. He was 1-under par through 12 holes, but a triple-bogey on the par-4 13th relegated him to 2-over. He finished the day with his fourth birdie of the round on No. 17.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 30th at 213 and freshman Andrew Korytoski in a three-way tie for 49th at 217. Ninkovic had an up-and-down final round, countering seven bogeys with four birdies for a final-round 3-over 74. Korytoski was WCU's biggest mover on Tuesday, climbing eight spots by matching his second-round, even-par 71. Korytoski was 2-under par through 10 holes before posting a bogey, double-bogey, and a fourth birdie down the stretch.
 
Led by Hernandez at 8-under par (4.11) on the longest layouts, WCU led the field in par-5 scoring at -34 (4.24) – a mark aided by a tournament-best six eagles spread between four players. The Catamounts carded 60 birdies to stand second in the field.
 
Playing unattached as individuals, both redshirt sophomore Josh Lendach and true freshman Michael Bevins advanced three spots in the final finishing order. Lendach finished in a tie for 61st after a final-round 2-over par 73 while Bevins carded his best round of the event at 1-over par 72. Lendach tallied a trio of birdies to finish with nine overall and Bevins collected his fourth birdie of the tournament on his first hole and shot even-par on 15 of the remaining 17 holes.
 
Behind the Phoenix and Catamounts, Presbyterian and Radford tied for the third position at 838 as the Highlanders climbed three spots over the final 18 holes. George Washington rounded out the top five with an 841.
 
Presbyterian's Jack Wofford claimed individual medalist honors by three strokes over Addison Beam from Appalachian State, 199-to-202.
 
Western Carolina has a quick turnaround as the Catamounts conclude the fall portion of their 2023-24 schedule as the squad travels to the 53rd Furman Intercollegiate this Sunday-Monday, Oct. 22-23. The event is hosted by fellow SoCon rival Furman at the par-71, 7,005 Furman University Golf Course. Live scoring through GolfStat will be available through links at CatamountSports.com.
 
2 – Western Carolina – 277 – 272 – 282 = 831 (-21)
T6 – Pablo Hernandez – 69-67-70 = 206 (-7)
T10 – Magnus Pedersen – 67-68-72 = 207 (-6)
T12 – Jace Butcher – 72-67-69 = 208 (-5)
T30 – Ivan Ninkovic – 69-70-74 = 213 (E)
T49 – Andrew Korytoski – 75-71-71 = 217 (+4)
T61 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 76-71-73 = 220 (+7)
T70 – Michael Bevins (ind.) – 73-77-72 = 222 (+9)