St. Simons Island, Ga. – Western Carolina slipped four spots in the final standings on Saturday, coming home 13th as play concluded at the Sea Palms Invitational, a tournament the program hosted for a third consecutive season at the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort. Junior transfer Pablo Hernandez paced the Catamount scoring five in a tie for 29th overall with an even-par score of 213.
 
Carrying at least a share of the lead through each of the three rounds, Davidson cruised to the 13-stroke team championship over defending event champion, Wright State, 809-to-822. The Wildcats shattered the previous tournament 54-hole record of 866 set by WSU last year with a three-round score of 809. All told, 11 teams broke the previous tournament team scoring benchmark. Augusta (837) finished third with UCF (838) and Jacksonville State (843) rounding out the Top Five finishing teams.
 
Wright State's Mikkel Mathiesen and Erik Jansson of Jacksonville State finished tied atop the individual leaderboard with matching scores of 13-under par 200, both establishing a new 54-hole individual scoring record. A combined nine individuals either matched or broke the previous individual three-round scoring mark of 305.
 
Also on Saturday, Joshua Stewart of Davidson set the single-round scoring low of 63 over the final 18 holes, besting the previous benchmark of 64 carded twice this year by Will Davis (Davidson, Round 2) and Markus Braadlie (UCF, Round 1).
 
For WCU, Hernandez dropped eight spots in the final standings after shooting a final-round, 2-over par 73 on Saturday. Opening on the front nine, the Madrid, Spain, product had a pair of bogeys against a birdie to make the turn for home at 1-over par. Birdies on the par-4 12th and par-3 15th had him at 1-under par with three holes to play. However, he closed his tournament with a bogey on the 17th and a double-bogey on hole No. 54 of the event for the 2-over round.
 
Senior Magnus Pedersen slipped two spots into a tie for 37th after likewise shooting a 2-over par 73 in Saturday's final round. Nine pars and a birdie left the Moss, Norway, native turning for home at 1-under par. He had two bogeys and a double-bogey on No. 18 against a second birdie to finish at 73 with a three-round score of 2-over par 215.
 
Hernandez carded a team-best 11 birdies while Pedersen led WCU with a team-best 35 pars over the 54-hole tournament.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were fifth-year senior Louis Theys down six spots into a tie for 66th at 221 including a final-round 75, with graduate transfer Adam Hooker falling 11 positions into a tie for 71st with a 76 on Saturday for a three-round score of 222. Redshirt freshman Josh Lendach was WCU's biggest gainer over the final 18 holes, climbing nine spots into a tie for 103rd with a three-round score of 230, shooting 2-over par 73 on Saturday.
 
Playing unattached as individuals, sophomore Kiefer Bulau came home in a tie for 78th after shooting 80 on Saturday for a tournament score of 223, while senior Quinton Metz finished 118th with a three-day score of 241.
 
Theys finished with 10 birdies, one ahead of Hooker with nine. Theys and Bulau both charted an eagle.
 
Western Carolina men's golf returns to action April 3-4 at the Wofford Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Spartanburg in South Carolina.
 
 
13 – Western Carolina – 287 – 287 – 294 = 868 (+16)
T29 – Pablo Hernandez (2) – 72 – 68 – 73 = 213 (E)
T37 – Magnus Pedersen (4) – 70 – 72 – 73 = 215 (+2)
T66 – Louis Theys (3) – 74 – 72 – 75 = 221 (+8)
T71 – Adam Hooker (1) – 71 – 75 – 76 = 222 (+9)
T103 – Josh Lendach (5) – 75 – 82 – 73 = 230 (+17)
T78 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 72 – 71 – 80 = 223 (+9)
118 – Quinton Metz (ind.) – 84 – 78 – 79 = 241 (+28)