Greensboro, Ga. – Western Carolina has a pair of golfers under par through Sunday's opening round at the 2023 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship as the Catamounts are in fifth place with 36 holes to play at the champion-crowning event at the par-72, 7,393-yard Oconee Course at the Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Adam Hooker posted a first-round score of 2-under par 70 to lead the Catamounts in a tie for seventh with
Pablo Hernandez joining him at 1-under par in a tie for 16th after 18 holes of play.
Round two is scheduled for Monday with WCU's scoring five hitting the course paired with golfers from Wofford. Live scoring through GolfStat is
available online via a link at CatamountSports.com and additoinal tournament inforamtion available at
SoConSports.com.
Hooker is tied with eight other golfers in the seventh-place tie at 2-under par 70 after Sunday's first round. Opening on the back nine, the Lebanon, Va., graduate transfer carded a pair of birdies through his first eight holes and was poised to make the turn to the front nine at 2-under before a bogey on the par-4 18th relegated him back to 1-under. Hooker closed his day with eight pars and a third birdie on the par-4 sixth to finish the day at 2-under par.
Hernandez is amidst a five-way tie for 16th after his opening round at 1-under par 71. A redshirt junior transfer from Madrid, Spain, Hernandez overcame a triple-bogey on the par-3 13th by carding a team-best five birdies, three after opening on the back nine to make the turn to the front even. He moved back to 1-under with a birdie on the par-5 No. 1 and countered a bogey with his fifth birdie to go along with 11 pars for the 71.
Redshirt freshman
Josh Lendach posted his third-best round as a Catamount with an even-par 72 to finish Sunday in a three-way tie for 21st. The Raleigh, N.C., native countered a pair of bogeys with two birdies – one per side – and matched Hooker with 14 pars, tied for the most in the tournament field.
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are fifth-year senior
Louis Theys in a tie for 29th at 3-over par 75 and senior
Magnus Pedersen in a three-way tie for 38th at 8-over par 80. Theys posted 13 pars on Sunday to go along with a pair of birdies, but two bogeys and a costly triple bogey on the par-3, 170-yard No. 5 left him a 3-over, 75. Pedersen had six bogeys and one double-bogey against 11 pars in the first round, in the clubhouse at 8-over par in a tie for 38th.
No. 33 ETSU (274) leads the eight-team field by three strokes over a second-place tie between Furman and No. 47 Chattanooga at 277. Mercer sits in fourth at 285, three strokes ahead of WCU (288) to round out the top five. Wofford (290) is two strokes in arrears of the Catamounts in sixth with No. 48 UNCG (292) and Samford (294) rounding out the field.
ETSU duo Matty Dodd-Berry and Mats Ege are tied atop the individual leaderboard after 18 holes of play, tied with matching scores of 6-under par 66. Chattanooga's Paul Conroy and Harris Barth of Furman are tied for third overall a stroke back at 5-under par 67.
Complete results of the 2023 SoCon Men's Golf Championship will be made available after play concludes through SoConSports.com and CatamountSports.com.
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).
2023 SoCon Men's Golf Championship
Reynolds Lake Oconee | After 18 Holes
1 – ETSU – 274 (-14)
T2 – Furman – 277 (-11)
T2 – Chattanooga – 277 (-11)
4 – Mercer – 285 (-3)
5 – Western Carolina – 288 (E)
6 – Wofford – 290 (+2)
7 – UNCG – 292 (+4)
8 – Samford – 294 (+6)
5 – Western Carolina – 288 (E)
T7 –
Adam Hooker – 70 (-2)
T16 –
Pablo Hernandez – 71 (-1)
T21 –
Josh Lendach – 72 (E)
T29 –
Louis Theys – 75 (+3)
T38 –
Magnus Pedersen – 80 (+8)
