Men's Golf | 3/24/2026 11:26:00 PM
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. – The North Carolina A&T men's golf team shot a two-day, three-round 3-over (284-300-283—867) to finish 11th at the Bridgestone Invitational hosted by the Golf Coaches Association of America on the par-72, 6,859-yard greens of the Silverado Country Club & Resort golf course.
The tournament concluded on Tuesday. Brigham Young University (BYU), the 27th-ranked team in the nation, led after each round and secured the title with a 54-under (267-281-26—810). They finished 25 strokes better than Santa Clara, which climbed three places for a second-place finish at 29-under (278-286-271—835). San Francisco, North Alabama, and Tohoku Fukushi—a team from Sendai, Japan—crowded the rest of the leaderboard at 20-under 844.
Sophomores Pedro Pereria,
Javier Morgado, and
Ignacio Zapata led the Aggies individually. The three Aggies joined a 10-way tie for 30th place at 1-under 215. Morgado and Zapata used a final round 1-under 72 to climb three places and join the group. Freshman
Emilio Hernandez finished eight strokes behind at 7-over 223. Morgado (70-74-71—215) opened Round 3 in rhythm, starting with a par on the par-4 420-yard No.10. He kept a spotless back nine highlighted by a birdie on the par-4 377-yard No. 17.
His momentum slowed on the front nine with back-to-back bogeys on the first and second holes. He responded with a par and a birdie. He then gave up two extra strokes on the par-5 536-yard No.5. From there, he steadied quickly with a par and three straight birdies. He started this streak with a two on the par-3, 182-yard seventh. He also birdied the par-4, 360-yard eighth and the par-5, 521-yard ninth.
Zapata (72-72-71—215) opened with a par on No.10 as well. He only took three extra shots in round three. These included a double-bogey on the par-4 398-yard No.12 and a bogey on the par-4 431-yard No.6. He used birdies on 16, 18, 4, and 9, along with eleven more pars, to balance his card. Three of those birdies came on par 5s. Pereira (68-75-72—215) started the tournament strong.
He carded one extra shot on No. 10 but countered that with five birdies. This left him in a four-way tie for first after Round 1. He birdied the par-5 16th twice during the tournament. He also birdied the par 5, fifth twice over two days, and was 6-under on par-5s throughout the event.
The Aggies are back in action for the Irish Creek Collegiate hosted by Appalachian State University on April 6-7 in Kannapolis, NC. The event takes place on the greens of The Club at Irish Creek.
