ABINGDON, Va. – The Emory & Henry College, Bluefield College and Bluefield State College Men's Golf Teams kicked off the spring 2017 season Saturday with a match-play exhibition at Glenrochie Country Club in Abingdon.
The event, played in the spirit of a Ryder Cup format, featured three sections of nine holes each, two of which were played in pairs and a third which was singles. All three sections were played as match play, a form of golf which counts the number of holes won instead of the aggregate score over a round.
Section I – Best Ball
- Emory & Henry took a 4.5-.5 lead after the first section, scoring points in all five of the pairings.
- Sophomore Ryan Hyatt (Bristol, Va.) and freshman Luke Montalbano (Rumford, R.I.) won their match 4&3 (ahead by four, with three to play) while junior Matthew Largen (Abingdon, Va.) and senior Ryan Lewis (Floyd, Va.) picked up a 3&2 victory.
- Freshman Tanner Carter (Saltville, Va.) and Bluefield State's J.T. Lester, who played for the E&H team to create equal numbers, won their match 1 Up, as did freshman Carlos Andrade (Guayaquil, ECUADOR) and senior T.J. Widener (Damascus, Va.).
Section II – Alternate Shot
- Bluefield and Bluefield State closed the gap to 5.5-4.5 after the Alternate Shot section of competition by winning three matches and halving the other two with E&H.
- Andrade and Widener halved their match while freshmen Ben Owen (Rogersville, Tenn.) and Richard Fishwick (Roanoke, Va.) earned the same result.
Section III – Singles
- The BC/BSC alliance completed its comeback victory in the Singles section. The Rams & Blues won seven of the matches outright and picked halved two more for an 8-2 section score and a 12.5-7.5 overall win.
- Hyatt and Owen halved their matches while Bluefield State's T.J. Lester, who played for the E&H team to create equal numbers, won his match 1Up.
Up Next
- Emory & Henry will play in its first official tournament of the spring on Monday, March 13 and Tuesday, March 14 in the TaylorMade/adidas Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University.
- The tournament will take place at the Cotton Dike Course at the Dataw Island Club in St. Helena Island, South Carolina.
- The 54-hole event will be played with two rounds on Monday and will conclude with the final 18 holes on Tuesday.
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