UVa Continues Hot Play to Win Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate
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Oct. 13, 2013
Johnson City, Tenn. – The 14th-ranked Virginia men’s golf team used a stellar final-round performance to win the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Johnson City, Tenn. The Cavaliers shot 13-under 275 Sunday to overtake 13th-ranked Virginia Tech and win the 14-team event by a single stroke with a 54-hole total of 22-under 842.
Virginia junior Denny McCarthy led the Cavaliers with a second-place finish at 11-under 205. McCarthy shot back-to-back rounds of 6-under 66 to close out the tournament. His tournament score topped his previous best 54-hole score by three strokes. It was the 10th top-10 finish during McCarthy’s career.
McCarthy has led Virginia during all three tournaments this season and has placed in the top five at each event.
Freshman Derek Bard, playing in his first college tournament, placed fourth overall at 9-under 207. Bard shot 8-under 64 during the second round.
Ben Rusch, playing in his first event this season, was 23rd at 215 while Ji Soo Park was 34th at 218. Park shot a career best 5-under 67 during the final round. Jimmy Stanger was 56th at 225.
, playing as a non-scoring individual, was 30th at 217.
Virginia played the final two days of the tournament at 29-under par after shooting 7-over 295 during Friday’s first round.
“Those two rounds were about as good as I’ve ever seen a team play,” said Virginia coach Bowen Sargent. “They were unreal. We played the par 5s much better the final two rounds and that had a lot to do with the scores.”
Sargent sensed things were going UVa’s way at the start of the second round when he watched McCarthy hole out from the first fairway, Bard do the same on the second hole and Park later add a third eagle on No. 10.
“That really ignited the team and they really took off from there,” Sargent said. “It was serendipitous. It just felt like we were going to win after that.”
The victory was the first by the Cavaliers since winning the VCU Shootout at the start of the 2011 season. The win was the 11th by the Cavaliers during Sargent’s 10-year tenure at Virginia.
Virginia wraps up its fall season next weekend at the U.S. Collegiate in Alpharetta. The tournament at the Golf Club of Georgia will take place Oct. 18-20.
Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate
Blackthorn Club at the Ridges
Johnson City, Tenn.
Par-72, 7,147 yards
Final Results
Team Results
1. Virginia 295-272-275-842 2. Virginia Tech 284-282-277-843 3. Kent State 285-279-280-844 4. East Tennessee State 277-291-284-852 5. Wake Forest 290-283-283-856 6. Memphis 288-288-282-858 7. Tennessee 290-283-288-861 8. Missouri 295-291-280-866 9. UNC Wilmington 288-284-296-86810. Coastal Carolina 285-295-291-87110. Furman 292-292-287-87112. Army 296-292-294-88213. Penn State 305-295-311-91114. Villanova 327-318-316-961
Individual Leaders1. Scott Vincent, Va. Tech 67-68-68-2032. Thomas Birdsey, Wake Forest 67–70-68-2052. Denny McCarthy, Virginia 73-66-66-2054. Derek Bard, Virginia 71-64-72-2075. Bryce Chalkley, Va. Tech 71-69-68-208
Virginia Results 2. Denny McCarthy 73-66-66-205 4. Derek Bard 71-64-72-20723. Ben Rusch 73-72-70-21530. Nick McLaughlin* 71-73-73-21734. Ji Soo Park 81-70-67-21856. Jimmy Stanger 78-74-73-225* Competing as an individual