Newton, N.C. – Fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen carded a team-low round of 69 and redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez led the squad with an eighth-place finish as the Western Carolina men's golf team advanced one position in the final team standings to come home seventh at the Wofford Invitational which concluded Tuesday at the par-70, 6,683-yard Catawba Country Club. WCU posted its best team round of 284 to close the three-round event at 871.
 
Pedersen climbed a team-best 21 positions on Tuesday by shooting 1-under par 69, advancing into a tie for 46th in the standings. Opening on the par-4 10th, the Moss, Norway, native countered three bogeys with a pair of doubles to make the turn for home at 1-over par. He played the front nine at 2-under, charting two more birdies to accompany seven pars
 
Hernandez carded a final-round score of 1-over par 71, sliding three spots to finish in an eighth-place tie with a three-day score of 212. The Madrid, Spain, native countered five bogeys with four birdies – two a side – over his final 18 holes. Hernandez finished with a team-best 11 birdies, tied for the fifth-most in the tournament field, and was tied for the second-lowest par-5 scoring at 5-under par (4.17).
 
Sophomore Ivan Ninkovic posted his best round of the event with a 1-over par 71 to climb five positions in the final standings to come home tied for 21st at 8-over par 218. Ninkovic posted four bogeys against three birdies Tuesday. He was poised at 1-under par through 15 holes before charting bogeys on two of his final three holes. Ninkovic finished with eight birdies and the lone eagle for the Catmount side.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were freshmen Jace Butcher in a tie for 40th at 222 and Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 55th with a total of 225. Butcher finished the event with five birdies while his classmate Korytoski carded four.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, redshirt sophomore Josh Lendach finished tied for 61st with a three-round score of 226. The Raleigh native matched his second-round 76 with a 6-over par 76 on Tuesday, posting seven total birdies.
 
South Carolina rallied to the team championship, edging runner-up Davidson by three strokes, 846-to-849, on Tuesday. Second-round leader Richmond finished third, eight strokes off the pace with tournament host Wofford (864) and Samford (865) rounding out the top five.
 
Frankie Harris from South Carolina and Wofford's Cedric Otten finished the 54-hole tournament tied atop the individual leaderboard with matching scores of 2-under par 208. Davidson's Will Davis and Davis Woodliff of Samford finished tied for third a stroke in arrears at 209.
 
Western Carolina men's golf now turns its attention to the 2024 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship scheduled for April 21-23, at the par-72, 7,393-yard Reynolds Lake Oconee course in Greensboro, Ga. The Catamounts look to build upon a fourth-place finish at the 2023 tournament.
 
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).
 
 
7 – Western Carolina – 291 – 296 – 284 = 871
T8 – Pablo Hernandez – 72 – 69 – 71 = 212 (+2)
T21 – Ivan Ninkovic – 72 – 75 – 71 = 218 (+8)
T40 – Jace Butcher – 75 – 74 – 73 = 222 (+12)
T46 – Magnus Pedersen – 76 – 78 – 69 = 223 (+13)
T55 – Andrew Korytoski – 72 – 80 -73 = 225 (+15)
T61 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 74 – 76 – 76 = 226 (+16)