Bucs post a 1-under on Sunday to finish ninth  

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (Oct. 14, 2012) – Freshman ETSU golfer Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.) bounced back nicely in the final round of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at Blackthorn Club on Sunday, as the Buccaneer rookie shot a 2-under-par 70 on the 7,147-yard, par-72 course.

After posting a 79 on Saturday, the Centreville, Md. native began the day by birdying the 545-yard, par-5 10th – and after playing even in his first nine holes – Hickman finished the round with back-to-back birdies to close out the round en route moving up 18 spots on the leaderboard. Overall, Hickman tied for 37th with a final score of 4-over 220, and was only one of 15 players on the weekend to birdie the 475-yard, par-4 17.

Meanwhile, sophomore Scott Gibson (Southerness, Scotland) posted his second straight 1-over 73 and tied for 23rd with a three-day total of 2-over-par 218. Gibson – who posted four consecutive birdies on the back nine on Saturday – began the day with a birdie on 10; however, after playing the first 16 holes at 1-under, the native of Scotland bogeyed the final two holes to finish 1-over.

Overall, Memphis’ Grant Milner won the individual championship despite being tested late by Wake Forest’s Evan Beck. Beck managed to steal the lead by one stroke on the back nine, but Milner regrouped after posting a birdie on No. 17 while Beck bogeyed the 18th. In the end, Milner won by two strokes after carding a 10-under 206 for the tournament, tying him with four other golfers for the fourth lowest three-round total in the 15-year history of the tournament.

In team scoring, the 12th-ranked Missouri Tigers charged back from four shots down to rally past No. 31 Tennessee, marking Missouri’s fourth straight tournament win of the season. The Tigers entered the day in the tie for third and took the lead when Tennessee bogeyed the 17th. The Vols’ Rick Lamb nearly redeemed himself when his birdie attempt from a chip shot was inches from going in on No. 18, but Missouri’s Jace Long two-putted for par to give the Tigers the comeback win.

The Bucs turned in a third round score of 1-under 287 on Sunday and totaled a three-round score of 8-over 872.

Sophomore Tom Heggarty (Cheshire, England) – who was playing as an individual –closed out the final round with an even-par 72 and tied for 29th at 3-over 219. Joining Heggarty with a 219 was freshman Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland). Meronk birdied two of the final nine holes to register his second par-72 on the weekend.

The Bucs return to action this weekend when ETSU heads to Alpharetta, Ga. for the U.S. Collegiate Championship. The three-day, three-round tournament begins Friday. Oct. 19 at The Golf Club of Georgia.

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