Men's Golf | 10/2/2023 11:15:00 PM
GREENVILLE, NC – The North Carolina A&T men's golf team opened their 2023-24 golf season by playing two rounds on Monday at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic hosted by East Carolina University (ECU) at the par-72, 7,120-yard Ironwood Country Club golf course.
Making his A&T debut on Monday for A&T was junior Owen Walsh. Walsh finished in a four-way tie for 31st after the first two rounds by carding a 1-over 145. He moved up the leaderboard in the second round after shooting even par. The Aggies finished 13th after the first two rounds with a 30-over 606 as a team.
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) leads the tournament at 22-under 554, followed by tournament host ECU, who is one shot off the lead at 21-under 555. Radford (13-under, 563), Winthrop (8-under, 568) and Old Dominion (4-under, 572) round out the top-5.
Walsh, who transferred to A&T from Eastern Wyoming College, shot a first-round 73. Walsh's day started on the par-4 18. After bogeying the par-3 No. 3, he birdied the par-5, 569-yard No. 4 to move back to even par. He then posted an eagle on the par-5, 512-yard No. 7 to get to 2-under. Walsh bogeyed the No. 8 and No. 10 before getting back on track to card a birdie on the 13th, a par-5, 574-yard hole. He, unfortunately, doubled bogey the next hole to move to 1-over before paring the final three holes of the round.
He opened the second round with six straight pars before birdieing No. 7 again to move back to even par for the tournament. Walsh bogeyed No. 8 before recovering to birdie the par-4, 451-yard No. 10. After shooting par on the next four holes, Walsh finished his day with a bogey, birdie and bogey to shoot even par in the second.
Camilo Marin also made his debut for the Aggies. He finished in a sixth-place tie for 60th by shooting a 36-hole 7-over 151. Marin started his day on the par-16. He birdied the hole before posting a double bogey on the 17th. After a bogey on No. 1, Marin parred the next six holes before carding a birdie on the par-5 seventh to move to 1-over.
Marin bogeyed No. 9 before posting a three on the par-4, 413-yard No. 12 to move back to 1-over. He finished the round with a bogey, a double bogey and a par to finish the first round with a 76. Marin had three birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey in Round 2 to finish with a 75.
Drew Walker is returning for his sophomore season in Aggieland. He shot a 10-over 154. He posted five birdies over the first two rounds after a summer that saw him qualify for the U.S. Amateur. Juniors Tyler Partee and Ayush Bodhale also competed for the Aggies on Monday. Partee shot 156, and Bodhale finished with a 165.
ECU's Lucas Augustsson leads the tournament after firing a 14-under 130 on Monday. FAU's Alex Maguire is four shots off the lead after posting a 10-under 134. Augustsson's teammate Carter Busse is third at 8-under, followed by FAU's Max Sturdza (7-under, 137) and Appalachian State's Herman Huus (6-under, 138).
Tournament play continues Tuesday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
