Pugh, Hickman lead Bucs in South Carolina

GREENVILLE, S.C. (March 24, 2013) – Playing conditions were less than ideal for the final round of the Furman Intercollegiate on Sunday afternoon at the Furman University Golf Club.

As heavy rains hit the region early Sunday morning play was delayed until the weather cleared up.

Once play began, sophomore Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales) and Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.) led the ETSU men’s golf team as the Buccaneer duo finished in a five-way tie for 28th for the tournament. Pugh (73-73-75) and Hickman (76-70-75) both shot 3-over on Sunday and totaled three-round scores of 5-over 221.

Virginia Tech – who was the only team to post a score under par on Sunday – led the tournament wire-to-wire to win the championship at 21-under-par 843. The Hokies fired an 11-under in the final round, and won the tournament by 19 strokes over No. 15 North Florida – marking the fifth time Virginia Tech has claimed the title.

On the player leaderboard, Iowa State’s Scott Fernandez, the 37th-ranked golfer according to the Golfstat rankings, entered the day with a share of the lead and earned a piece of the crown after carding an even-par 72 Sunday afternoon. Fernandez tied for the title with Samford’s Drew Aimone at 7-under-par 209. Aimone began the round tied for eighth, but the senior Bulldog golfer went low (-5) in the final 18 holes of play to leap his way to the top with Fernandez.    

Meanwhile, freshman Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) generated the lowest score for the Blue and Gold on Sunday, as the Buccaneer newcomer shot a 1-over 73 and ended the weekend 9-over (74-78-73—225) to place 48th overall.   

The Bucs tied for 11th with Winthrop as ETSU tallied a team score of 889 (295-295-299).

ETSU doesn’t return to action until mid-April when the Bucs travel back to the Palmetto State for the Wofford Invitational on April 15-16.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.