Lake Johnson and Andrew Weathers earned top-10 individual finishes while leading the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team to a runner-up performance in the Southern Conference tournament Tuesday at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 9.
UNC Greensboro, led by medalist Nick Lyerly, closed with a 300 on a wet day and won at 18-over-par 882.
The Mocs were first after Sunday's opening 290 and tied with East Tennessee State for second after Monday's 304, 12 strokes behind UNCG. UTC closed with a 293 that shook off the Buccaneers, who wound up third at 891 - 10 strokes ahead of fourth-place Furman - but that left the Mocs five strokes behind the Spartans, who won the program's first SoCon title.
UTC fifth-year senior Weathers closed with a 71 and junior Johnson had a 73 in tying for seventh. The Mocs' Luke Long (74) tied for 13th at 225, Will Porter (80) tied for 20th at 228 and Etienne Brault (75) shared 20th at 229. No other team had all five of its golfers in the top 30.
Johnson and Long earned all-conference honors.
» At Pine Mountain, Ga., Lee won its first Gulf South Conference women's golf title in dominant fashion, with the Lady Flames setting a league record with their 20-over 884 on the Lake View Course at Callaway Gardens to finish a remarkable 39 strokes ahead of runner-up West Georgia.
In the men's tournament Lee was fifth, 22 strokes behind West Florida as the Argonauts won their sixth straight and 16th overall GSC men's golf title.
The Lady Flames shot a 306 in Sunday's opening round, then followed with rounds of 286 and 292 as the only team to break 300 in the three-day, 54-hole event.
West Florida's Paloma Vaccaro was the women's medalist at 2-under 214, but Lee filled the second through fourth spots on the individual leaderboard with Haverly Harrold (217), Caroline Moore (218) and Judianne Speach (225), and Annika Gino (227) tied for seventh. Harrold, Moore and Speach made the all-tournament team.
Lee's Sam Burrus (240) - like Moore, a fifth-year senior - finished 18th in the 44-golfer field.
"I wanted this one for our seniors because they've done so much for our program, and this was one of the last things to check off our list," Lady Flames coach John Maupin said in a release. "The big goal for the week was to see our seniors finally raise the trophy, so that was very satisfying and I'm grateful they were able to end the GSC portion of their careers with a big win."
In the men's tourney, West Florida was followed by Delta State (877), Valdosta State (881), Montevallo (882) and the Flames, who shot 306, 291 and 298. Lee's Dylan Lillard, Scott Odell and Corey Sheppard tied for 11th at 222.
Delta State's Zach Zediker was the men's medalist after shooting 6-under 210 and winning a playoff with West Florida's Chandler Blanchet.
» At Montgomery, Ala., the Dalton State College women pushed their lead to 30 strokes after the second round of the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament at Arrowhead Country Club.
The Roadrunners shot a 299 Tuesday to move to 10-over 586, with William Carey the closest pursuer after a 309.
DSC's competing five are all in the top 10 individually entering today's final round. Isabel Rijos leads at par after a second-round 75, Tia Teiniketo (74) is second at 2 over, Katie Dalton (76) is another stroke back and tied for third, Caroline Griffin (74) is sixth at 149 and Hannah Gasaway (76) is tied for ninth at 154.
All seven golfers on the DSC roster made the All-SSAC team, announced Monday night at the pre-tournament awards banquet: seniors Griffin and Heather Nail; junior Dalton; and sophomores Gasaway, Rijos, Teiniketo and Haejin Choe. Dalton, Gasaway and Griffin also made the league's all-academic team, and Griffin made the SSAC's Champions of Character lineup.
Also for DSC, sophomore S.M. Lee was named SSAC men's golfer of the week after winning the league's individual title by 11 strokes last week in Montgomery, where the Roadrunners won their fourth straight team title. Lee, the NAIA player of the year last season, has received the SSAC weekly honor five times this season.
» At Muscle Shoals, Ala., Tennessee Tech's Alexander Riddle from Notre Dame High School shot a second-round 76 Tuesday and was part of a six-way tie for sixth at 2-over 146 after 36 holes in the Ohio Valley Conference men's golf championship.
Riddle was tied for second after shooting a 70 in Monday's first round. Tennessee Tech held onto fourth in the team standings for the second straight day and is 16 shots behind leader Jacksonville State, whose Jesus Montenegro, at 4-under 140, has a four-stroke lead on the individual leaderboard entering the final round.