Hilton Head Island, S.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones again made a final-round run at the individual medalist honors, while juniors Andrew Korytoski and Jace Butcher both made Tuesday pushes as the Catamounts came home third at the 20th annual Wexford Intercollegiate that concluded at the par-72, 6,884-yard Wexford Golf Club.
 
Jones fired a 1-under par 71 on Tuesday to post a second-place finish, closing to within a stroke of the event winner, Miles Eubanks from the College of Charleston. Jones closed the tournament at 8-under par 208, while Eubanks was a stroke better at 9-under, 207.
 
Eubanks led the Cougars (864) to the team championship by nine strokes over second-place Xavier (873), with the Musketeers edging WCU (874) by a stroke. The Catamounts beat fellow Southern Conference foe Mercer (875) by one, while event host Francis Marion came home fifth at 880.
 
Two over par after bogeys on two of his first four holes in Tuesday's final 18, Jones quickly reconciled with an eagle on the par-5, 543-yard eighth to return to even. The Jacksonville, N.C., product then birdied the par-4 10th for a second-straight round to move to 1-under, keeping pace atop the leaderboard. Jones then closed the day with 11 consecutive pars, holding on but unable to make up any additional ground as Eubanks stumbled through his back nine at 3-over par, finishing at even-par 72 to fend off Jones.
 
Jones finished tied for fourth in the field with 39 pars, adding a team-best 10 birdies. He was also one of just nine golfers in the field to card an eagle on the Arnold Palmer Signature course.
 
For the Catamounts, senior Ivan Ninkovic (220) slipped four spots in the final standings to come home tied for 17th overall at 4-over par 220. The Pula, Croatia, product charted his second eagle on the par-5 15th – the only golfer in the field with multiple eagles – and was poised to shoot 2-over before a double-bogey on his 54th hole relegated him to 76 on Tuesday. Ninkovic added six birdies to his two eagles.
 
WCU climbed onto the team podium thanks to the play of juniors Andrew Korytoski and Jace Butcher, who rallied six and 23 positions, respectively, by carding their best rounds of the tournament on Tuesday. Korytoski shot 1-over par 73 to move into a tie for 26th overall at 222, while Butcher fired a 1-under par 71 to come home in a tie for 34th with a three-round total of 224.
 
Korytoski countered four bogeys with three birdies, carding consecutive birds on No. 18 and No. 1 to sit at 1-under par with three holes to play. However, two of his four bogeys came among those final three to relegate him to 73. Butcher stumbled out of the tee box on Tuesday with two bogeys among his first three holes. However, he found his stride on the back nine with four birdies between holes No. 11 and 17 and was 2-under par until the final hole when he bogeyed the par-4, 415-yard fourth for the first time in three rounds.
 
Korytoski had seven birdies in the tournament, while Butcher finished with six – four on Tuesday.
 
Freshman Connor Williams matched his opening-round score of 80 in the final round to come home tied for 85th overall with a score of 237. Williams also had six birdies in the event.
 
Western Carolina returns to action on March 12-14, hosting its second tournament of the season as the Catamounts return to the Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island, S.C., for The Peoples Golf Championship at Sea Palms. It's the fifth-straight season that WCU has hosted at Sea Palms since the COVID-19 altered 2020-21 season. The event is again title-sponsored by Peoples Golf and The Peoples Clubs, based out of Swain County, NC, and founded by Will Peoples, CEO, a 2008 WCU graduate.
 
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 – 293 – 290 – 291 = 874 (+10)
2 – Tyler Jones – 70-67-71 = 208 (-8)
T17 – Ivan Ninkovic – 70-74-76 = 220  (+4)
T26 – Andrew Korytoski – 74-75-73 = 222 (+6)
T34 – Jace Butcher – 79-74-71 = 224 (+8)
T85 – Connor Williams – 80-77-80 = 237 (+21)