ETSU senior finishes tied for eighth at 4-under-par 212

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (Oct. 18, 2015) – ETSU’s Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) led the ETSU men’s golf team at the U.S. Collegiate Championship, as the Buccaneer senior finished tied for eighth at 4-under-par 212 (72-70-70) on Sunday afternoon from The Golf Club of Georgia – Lakeside Course. 

Meronk, who was coming off a win at last weekend’s Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, finished strong in the final round, as he birdied five of his last 10 holes en route to moving into the top-10 following his second straight round of 2-under 70. For the tournament, the Wroclaw, Poland native totaled 12 birdies, marking the fourth-most by an individual in the 90-player field. In addition, teammate Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland) – who paced the Blue and Gold in the first two rounds – also recorded 12 birdies on the weekend. 

Unfortunately, after moving into fourth-place by firing the lowest score in round two, the Bucs couldn’t maintain momentum as ETSU shot a 19-over 307 on Sunday and finished in 12th-place at 18-over-par 882 (293-282-307). Despite dropping down the leaderboard, the Blue and Gold finished above No. 2 Oklahoma State (21-over-par 885), No. 22 UCLA (24-over-par 888) and No. 43 Iowa (44-over-par 908). 

Auburn, the top-ranked team in the country, and No. 3 Wake Forest earned a share of the team title as they both finished 9-under-par 855. The Tigers entered the day one shot back of the Demon Deacons and Auburn registered a 3-under-par 285, thanks to a birdie from Michael Johnson on No. 18 to pull even with Wake Forest.

Individually, there was a four-way tie for first at 6-under-par 210. Stanford’s Maverick McNealy – the No. 1 ranked player via Golfstat – Virginia’s Derek Bard, Wake Forest’s Cameron Young and Auburn’s Will Long all earned co-medalist honors. Long began the round atop the leaderboard, but finished the day at 2-over 74, while McNealy made the biggest leap after firing a 5-under 67 to pull even with the leaders. Meanwhile, Young posted a 1-over 73 on Sunday and Bard ended the round at even-par 72. 

After playing the first two rounds at 5-under, Kristjansson recorded a 6-over 78 on Sunday and tied for 22nd at 1-over-par 217 (71-68-78). Junior Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Slaskie, Poland) tied for 69th, while Conor Rodrigues (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) and Geuntae Kim (Daegu, South Korea) finished tied for 82nd. 

The entire 17-team field was ranked in the top-70 by either Golfweek or Golfstat, including seven in the top-10. In addition, 11 golfers entered the weekend ranked in the top-25 of the national polls. 

The Bucs wrap up their fall season in two weeks when ETSU travels to Hawaii for the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational. The three-day tournament begins Monday, Nov. 2. 

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