GREENVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina A&T completed its first tournament of the 2023-24 season on Tuesday with a 13th-place finish at the 2023 Ironwood Collegiate Classic played on the par-72, 7,120-yard Ironwood Country Club hosted by East Carolina University (ECU).
The Aggies ended the tournament with scores of 305-301-305-928 over three rounds to finish at 47-over. They were 17-over on Tuesday, led by a spectacular third round by junior Owen Walsh. Walsh fired a 1-under 71, carding four birdies to put together the solid round. Walsh moved up seven slots from Monday's two-round performance to finish in a four-way tie for 24th.
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) won the tournament, maintaining their lead from Monday by shooting a third-round 8-under 280. FAU finished first with a 30-under 834 over two days. ECU finished second with a three-round 23-under 841, followed by Radford (842), Winthrop (852) and California Baptist (855) in the top-5.
Walsh's third round started on the par-5, 568-yard 16th. Walsh birdied the hole in the second round but started Tuesday by parring the hole before carding par on the two holes. He made the turn and had an eventful front nine. It began with Walsh birdieing the par-4, 397-yard No. 1. He then posted a bogey on No. 2 but rebounded to put a red number on the par-3, 202-yard third.
After shooting five on the par-5 fourth, he bogeyed No. 5 and parred No. 6 to get to even par. Walsh followed by taking advantage of another par-5 by birdieing the 512-yard seventh. The course's first nine ended for Walsh with him parring the eighth and bogeying the ninth.
He went to No. 10 at even par. He shot par 10, 11 and 12 before earning his final birdie of the tournament with a four on the par-5 574-yard 13th. Walsh shot 8-under on the course's par-5s and never carded anything worse than par on the par-5s throughout the tournament.
ECU's Lucas Augustsson won the tournament with a 15-under 201 fueled by 9-under 63 in the first round. FAU's Max Sturdza moved up two spots from Monday's action to finish second place with a 12-under 204. Radford's Patrick Gareiss and FAU's Alex Maguire finished in a third-place tie at 11-under 205. ECU's Carter Busse rounded out the top-5 with a three-round 9-under 207.
Sophomore Drew Walker finished in a four-way tie for 71st with a 13-over 229. He had his best round on Tuesday by shooting a 3-over 75. Walker carded one birdie on Tuesday with a four on the par-5, 569-yard No. 4. Camilo Marin shot a three-round 14-over 230. Tyler Partee shot 236 for the tournament and Ayush Bohdale ended the tournament with a 253.
A&T returns to action in two weeks at the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University, Oct. 16-17.
