BROWN SUMMIT – North Carolina A&T completed hosting its annual men's golf event, the Aggie Invitational, presented by Grant Thornton Tuesday afternoon at the par-72, 7,274-yard Bryan Park Championship Golf Course. The nine teams played a final-round 18 holes on Day 2 after playing two rounds of 36 holes on Monday.
The Aggies finished the tournament in third place after a solid third-round showing, where the Aggies shot a 14-over 302, a day after shooting an even more impressive 8-over 296. The Aggies shot a 46-over 910 to finish behind first-place Elon, who shot three-round 7-over 871, and second-place Alabama State's 39-over 903.
Alabama State and A&T are ranked 269 and 270 in the Golfstat rankings and will play in the same tournament twice more this season.
"I figured from the very beginning when I looked at the field that second place was going to be a battle between Alabama State and us," said A&T head coach Richard Watkins. "We have not historically performed to our potential on our home course in our own events. We started like that in Round 1 yesterday.
But then Round 2, we picked it up and put some consistent numbers on the board, numbers that looked like us. Today, we did the same thing. We continued to move forward. We didn't catch Alabama State today, but we closed the gap."
Elon's Landon Durham claimed the medalist honor by shooting a 2-under 214. UNCG's Noah Connor finished a shot behind him at 1-under 215. UNCG's BJ Boyce placed third (E, 216), and Alabama State's Gonzalo Moreno and Elon's Jennings Glenn finished in a fourth-place tie by shooting 220.
A&T got an outstanding boost from freshman Samuel Drew Walker, who shot a season-best round 2-under 70 in the third round. Walker finished the tournament tied for 11th, with teammate Diego Gonzalez at 8-over 224. Gonzalez fired off a final-round 75. Carson Witherspoon ended the Aggie Invitational in a tie for 16th by shooting 12-over 228. His best score came in the second round with a 2-over 74.
Walker started his day with a double-bogey on the par-4 eighth before taking over the course. Walker's first birdie came on the 397-yard, par-4 10th before following that by carding a four on the par-5, 543-yard 11th, moving to even par.
Then, he moved into red numbers for the round with a birdie on the par-3, 232-yard 14th. Walker's fourth birdie came on the 417-yard par-4 16th. He bogeyed the first before moving back to 2-under with a birdie on the par-5, 536-yard sixth.
Gonzalez birdied one hole in the third round, which came on the par-5, 543-yard 11th. Witherspoon posted two birdies in the final round a day after carding three birdies during the second round on Monday.
Conrado Chozas finished in a three-way tie for 25th (18-over, 234). Martin Gutierrez (241) and JR Smith (250) also competed for A&T.
"Everybody enjoyed the event," said Watkins. "It was a well-run event, and the golf course was great. Elon did a nice job and played well. Their medalist played well on the closing holes to win the tournament."
The Aggies return to action April 3-4 at the Southern Invitational in Palm Beach, Fla.
