Men's Golf | 9/29/2026 8:28:00 PM

GREENVILLE, NC – The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University men's golf team had an excellent day on the course Tuesday. Four Aggies shot under par to lead the team to a 6-under 282 on the final day of the 2026 Ironwood Collegiate Classic hosted by East Carolina University at the par-72, 7,120-yard Ironwood Golf Course.

The Aggies finished sixth overall with a three-round, two-day 288-295-282 – 1-over 865 over 54 holes, four shots off their par-72 record for lowest score. Tournament host ECU shot an 8-under 280 on Tuesday to climb three spots and win Ironwood with a 7-under 857, two shots ahead of Georgetown (859). Old Dominion and High Point University finished tied for third at 859.

Junior Jordan Williams, a Southern University transfer, had the lowest score of any Aggie, but he played as an individual. Williams shot 4-under 68 on Tuesday to finish in a three-way tie for 10th, carding a 72-72-68 – 4-under 212. Among the scores that counted toward A&T's totals, junior Ignacio Zapata also played well. Zapata shot a final-round 2-under 70, which included five birdies on his final-day card. He shot 70-73-70 for the tournament to finish in a three-way tie for 13^th at 3-under 213. Sophomore Emilio Hernandez improved eight positions up the leaderboard to finish in the top 20, shooting 2-under 70 on Tuesday to finish 73-72-70, 1-under 215. He finished tied for 18th place in a seven-way tie.

Junior Pedro Pereira also shot under par on Tuesday. Pereira posted a 3-under 69. His stellar play put him at 72-78-69 – 3-over 219 over 54 holes, leading him to finish in a seven-way tie for 31^st. ODU's Joe MacPherson and North Carolina Central University's (NCCU) Iszac Bertagnole claimed co-medalist honors by shooting 8-under 208. HPU's James Hassell was one shot off the lead at 7-under 209.

Williams started his day on the par-5 574 13^th with a par. He then went on a birdie tear with a three on the 362-yard 14^th, a four on the 568-yard 16^th, and two on the 198-yard 17^th. Williams made a par on 18 before making the turn and sinking a par putt on No. 1 before bogeying No. 2. He returned to birdie land on the 426-yard, par-4 fifth and the 416-yard, par-4 sixth. He finished the round by making six straight par putts.

Zapata's day started on the 569-yard par-5 fourth. He parred the hole and then moved to fifth, where he carded a birdie. Zapata also made birdie on the 512-yard par-5 seventh to move to 2-under on the day. After a bogey on the par-4 eighth, Zapata put together a string of four consecutive par putts before reaching the 13^th. Zapata made birdie on 13, the 434-yard par-4 15^th, and the 16^th as he moved to 5-under for the tournament. He cooled off a bit, bogeying two of his next three holes. Meanwhile, Hernandez opened the day on No. 5 with a par. That started a string of nine straight pars for Hernandez before he birdied 14 and 16 to move to 2-under for the round.

He stayed there, bogey-free all round, and closed with six straight par putts. Pereira started his round on No. 6 and recorded his first birdie of the day on the 213-yard par-3 eighth. Pereira gained momentum from there, birdieing the 451-yard par-4 10th, the 413-yard par-4 12th, the 14th and the 16^th on the back nine to move to 5-under for the round and 1-over for the tournament. Unfortunately, Pereira bogeyed three of his next seven holes to finish the round. Within those seven holes, he did birdie the 404-yard par-4 second.

Junior Javier Morgado (73-72-76 – 5-over 221) placed 45^th, and sophomore John Thompson (73-79-73 – 9-over 225) placed 61^st. The Aggies return to action Oct. 17-18 at the SAS HBCU Invitational at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC.