The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga rallied enough for a respectable round in the final day of the Ping/Golfweek Preview on Tuesday, but an 11th-place finish will likely cost the Mocs the No. 1 spot in the country when rankings are recalculated later this week.
“We needed a good round to feel better about ourselves,” coach Mark Guhne said as the team stopped at Wendy’s between Inverness Club and the Toledo airport. “We came back and put a decent round on the board.
“I think it’s made us realize we need to be prepared when we’re playing this caliber of competition on this kind of course.”
The top-ranked Mocs combined to shoot a 10-over-par 294 with senior Ben Rickett firing a 3-under 68 for UTC’s best round of the tournament. UTC moved from 13th to 11th on the final day and finished at 41-over 893.
Tennessee freshman Robin Wingardh tied Oklahoma State freshman Morgan Hoffman for medalist honors at 6-under 207.
Rickett tied for eighth at 212. Mocs junior Derek Rende shot 9 over, freshman Stephan Jaeger shot 14 over, and senior Jonathan Hodge and junior Fredrik Qvicker each shot 20 over.
“Ben managed himself really well and left himself in good places,” Guhne said. “His course management and his short game were really good this week, and that’s what it takes to play this course.”
Oklahoma State won the tournament at the site of the 2009 NCAA championship at 9-under 843. Fifth-ranked Tennessee finished second at 859, and Georgia was third at 861 with Chattanooga’s Adam Mitchell pacing the Bulldogs with an even-par 213.
“It was probably a C-minus tournament for us because we didn’t play golf the way we should play golf,” Guhne said. “We made some mistakes, didn’t take care of business, and small mistakes turned into doubles and triples (bogeys).
“We need to get back to work on chipping and putting and course management.”
David Uchiyama is a sports writer at the Chattanooga Times Free Press who began his tenure here in May 2001. His primary beats are UTC athletics — specifically men’s basketball and athletic department administration — and golf, which includes coverage from the PGA Tour to youth events. He also covers other high school sports, outdoor adventures, and contributes to other sections of the newspaper when necessary. David grew up in Salinas, Calif., and began working ...
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