Pawleys Island, S.C. – Fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen finished in a two-way tie for third place to lead a trio of Catamounts inside the individual Top 10 as Western Carolina men's golf turned in a school record-setting performance at the Golfweek Fall Challenge. WCU finished third in the 14-team field in its season-opening event held at the par-72, 6,988-yard True Blue Golf Club.
 
WCU carded a school-record 54-hole score of 822 over the three-day event that included a school-record single-round of 266 on Monday. The Catamounts finished with 74 birdies, tied for the second-most in the field. Dating back to last season, WCU has posted top-five finishes in three of its last four tournaments.
 
This week, Pedersen shot all three rounds in the 60s to pace the Catamounts with a career-best, three-round score of 201 that featured his career-low round of 66 on Sunday. He finished just one stroke shy of matching WCU's 54-hole individual record of 200 carded by Dylan MacQueen in 2017 and matched by Jake Peacock in 2021.
 
Overcoming a bogey on his first hole of the final round, Pedersen rallied with three birdies and an eagle to make the turn for home at 4-under par. Two more birdies through his first three holes of the back nine left the Moss, Norway, native at 6-under par. However, two bogeys among the final three holes left him at a solid 68 for the day and 201 for the event.
 
Pedersen finished the tournament with 19 birdies, tied for the second-most in the field while also carding a pair of eagles on the par-5, 548-yard ninth hole. He finished 5-under par on the par-4 holes and 8-under par on the par-5s to rank among the tournament leaders.
 
Redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez and sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic joined Pedersen in the Top 10, posting a fifth and seventh-place tie, respectively. Hernandez finished with a 2-under par round of 70 on Tuesday to shoot 203, while Ninkovic climbed seven spots over the final 18 holes with a final-round 67 to shoot 205.
 
Hernandez had a quiet round, posting three birdies against one bogey to shoot 70. Ninkovic was very impressive, carding birdies on seven of his first nine holes Tuesday to make the turn for home at 7-under par. After his eighth birdie of the round on the par-5, 584-yard 10th, the Pula, Croatia, native played at 8-under for the round through 13 holes. A double-bogey on the par-3, 160-yard 14th and a bogey on the par-4, 449-yard 17th left him at 67, one stroke off his career-best round shot Monday.
 
Hernandez paced the field in par-4 scoring at 6-under (3.75) and matched Pedersen with 19 birdies.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were freshmen Jace Butcher in a tie for 38th at 213 and Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 61st with a three-round score of 219. Butcher posted 10 birdies in his collegiate debut while Korytoski charted eight including three over Tuesday's final round. The freshman duo led WCU with 38 pars apiece.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, WCU freshman Dalton Payne saved his best for last by carding a 1-over par 73 Tuesday to finish his first collegiate event in a tie for 77th with a three-round score of 229. Thanks to an eagle on the par-4 407-yard 12^th, Payne made the turn at 3-under par but was later relegated to the 1-over round by four bogeys over his final nine holes.
 
In second place through two rounds, Loyola Marymount rallied past Washington State to win the team championship by one stroke, 817-to-818. The Lions were three strokes better than the Cougars on Tuesday with the Catamounts (822) completing the feline trio atop the standings in third.
 
Washington State's Pono Yanagi and Thomas Schmidt of Arkansas State shared individual medalist honors with matching scores of 17-under par 199. Yanagi carded a 67 over the final 18 holes to advance into the tie as Schmidt finished with a 3-under round of 69.
 
Western Carolina returns to action Sept. 25-26 as it hosts the JT Poston Invitational at the beautiful Country Club of Sapphire Valley. The 54-hole tournament features 36 holes on Monday followed by the final round on Tuesday. WCU looks to continue its success at its home tournament after finishing second in last year's event.
 
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).
 
3 – Western Carolina – 279 – 266 - 277 = 822
T3 – Magnus Pedersen (1) – 66 – 67 – 68 = 201
5 – Pablo Hernandez (2) – 68 – 65 – 70 = 203
T7 – Ivan Ninkovic (3) – 72 – 66 – 67 = 205
T38 – Jace Butcher (5) – 73 – 68 – 72 = 213
T61 – Andrew Korytoski (4) – 75 – 71 – 73 = 219
T77 – Dalton Payne (individual) – 75 – 81 – 73 = 229