Bridgeport, W.Va. – Playing through wintry conditions over the past two days, the Western Carolina men's golf team came home tied for 11th at the Mountaineer Invitational as play concluded at the par-72, 7,308-yard Pete Dye Golf Course in the squad's penultimate event of the 2022-23 regular season and final tune-up before the 2023 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship.
 
WCU was tied for ninth after the conclusion of the second round on Tuesday morning, advancing right into the final round where the squad slid two positions over the final 18 holes into an 11th-place tie with the University of Maryland at 933.
 
The Catamount scoring five was paced by graduate transfer Adam Hooker who slipped 15 positions over the final 18 holes despite carding a team-best final-round score of 5-over par 77. Opening on the back nine, Hooker made the turn for home at 2-over after seven pars and a pair of bogeys. He charted the final two of his seven tournament birdies among his final four holes.
 
Fifth-year senior Louis Theys dropped 17 spots on Tuesday, finishing tied for 43rd with a three-round total of 234. Theys matched his opening round with three birdies over the final 18 holes but could only manage an 82.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were redshirt junior Pablo Hernandez down 10 positions into a two-way tie for 52nd overall at 236 with senior Magnus Pedersen and redshirt freshman Josh Lendach a stroke in arrears at 237 in a three-way tie for 54th. Hernandez and Pedersen both finished with seven birdies over the 54-hole tournament.
 
WCU finished with 134 combined pars and 31 total birdies as a team in the final statistics.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, Canadian-born sophomore Kiefer Bulau finished tied for 71st overall with a three-round score of 244 (85-74-85).
 
No. 20 Oklahoma State cruised to the 20-stroke victory over second-place Drexel, 875-to-895, as the Cowboys put three inside the individual Top 10 including tournament medalist Jonsa Baumgartner at even-par 216. Event-host West Virginia was third just a stroke out of second with Coastal Carolina (897) and James Madison (898) rounding out the top five finishers.
 
Western Carolina now turns its attention squarely on the 2023 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship as the tournament returns to the Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., for three days of stroke-play action April 23-25.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
 
T11 – Western Carolina – 307 – 307 – 319 = 933 (+69)
33 – Adam Hooker (1) – 75 – 76 – 77 = 228 (+12)
T43 – Louis Theys (5) – 75 – 77 – 82 = 234 (+18)
T52 – Pablo Hernandez (2) – 78 – 78 – 80 = 236 (+21)
T54 – Magnus Pedersen (3) – 79 – 76 – 82 = 237 (+21)
T54 – Josh Lendach (4) – 79 – 78 – 80 = 237 (+21)
T71 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 85 – 74 – 85 = 244 (+28)