GREENVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina A&T had its lowest round of East Carolina University's men's golf Ironwood Collegiate Classic on Tuesday. The Aggies concluded the tournament in 10th place with a two-day, three-round score of 52-over 916.
The tournament was played Monday and Tuesday at the par-72, 7,120-yard Ironwood Country Club. Tournament host ECU won the tournament by one stroke over William & Mary and Gardner-Webb, finishing with a 6-over 870. William & Mary nearly made up its six-stroke deficit from Monday, and GWU almost made up its four-stroke deficit. Delaware (8-over 872) and Temple (13-over, 877) rounded out the top-5.
A&T shot a 15-over 303 on Tuesday after shooting 308-305 over the first two rounds on Monday. Freshman Christopher Pieper and junior Martin Gutierrez were low men on the day for the Aggies. Pieper secured the Aggies' lowest score for the tournament. On Tuesday, he shot a 3-over 75; for the tournament, he carded a 7-over 223 to finish 29th.
Pieper finished 12 strokes off the lead as Winthrop's Nick Mayfield won the tournament with a 5-under 211. William & Mary's Charlie Bundy, Temple's Conor McGrath, ECU's Phillip Bondestad and Longwood's Brendan Dunphy finished in a four-way tie for second at 3-under.
Meanwhile, the Aggies had some excellent front and back nine performances on Tuesday. Pieper shot even par on the front nine, and freshman Samuel Drew Walker shot even par on the back nine. Gutierrez and graduate Diego Gonzalez were both 1-over on the front nine.
Pieper started the day on the par-4, 451-yard 10th, and when he made the turn at the clubhouse, he stood at 3-over. But a birdie on the 397-yard, par-4, No.1 dropped his score to 2-over. He bogeyed No. 3 but closed out the round with six straight pars.
Gutierrez also started on the back nine, and when he reached the par-5, 568-yard 16th, he was 2-over. But he birdied the 16th before bogeying the 18th to make the turn at 2-over. Then, he parred the first five holes he played on the front before finishing bogey, birdie, bogey, and par to finish the front nine at 1-over. He finished 20-over for the tournament.
Walker parred the first six holes he played on Tuesday. He erased a bogey on 16 with a birdie on the par-4, 370-yard 18th to get him to even par on the day. He was plus-5 on the front nine to finish the day 5-over and the tournament at 20-over.
Gonzalez had three bogeys and no birdies on the back nine. He started the front nine with a bogey before gathering himself to birdie the 569-yard par-5 fourth. After bogeys on five and six, he took advantage of another par-5 with a birdie on the 512-yard seventh. He closed the tournament with two straight pars to finish the day at 4-over and the tournament with a 9-over 225. He finished in a tie for 34th.
