Davies, Ege post top-10 finishes at Blackthorn Club

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (Oct. 11, 2022) – ETSU’s Archie Davies (Carlisle, England) and Mats Ege (Kristiansand, Norway) posted top-10 finishes and the Buccaneers placed third overall as the 24th annual Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate came to an end on Tuesday at the Blackthorn Club in Jonesborough.   

Davies recorded his first top-10 finish this fall as he tied for seventh at 7-under-par 209, while Ege enjoyed his second straight top-10 showing at 6-under-par 210. Davies, who registered his 15th career top-10 finish, led the Blue and Gold in Tuesday’s final round as he fired a 3-under 69, thanks to some clutch putting on the back nine. Davies had four of his six birdies on the day come in the final nine holes, which he played at three-under.   

“It’s not quite the result we wanted as a team but I believe we are trending in the right direction. I feel like we can build off of this,” said Davies. “I looked at the scoreboard on No. 13 and knew we were back. We needed to get some energy going within the team so I had some sparks going on the back nine. I was able to roll in some birdies and make some long putts. I was hoping we could make a spark down the stretch but it wasn’t meant to be. However, I believe there were still some positive takeaways from this final round.” 

Ege, coming off a ninth-place showing two weeks ago at the Inverness Intercollegiate, finished tied for 10th in the 87-player field. Ege shot below par in all three rounds as he totaled a 1-under 71 on Tuesday. 

“It’s nice to see them (Archie and Mats) come back,” said ETSU head coach Jake Amos. “We really missed them the first two tournaments. Mats played well last time out at Inverness, but those two playing well is essential. Each team needs their No. 1 and 2 guys up there. We just missed a couple low rounds from them. If you look at the leaderboard, everyone had 6 or 7-under a couple of rounds, and we just didn’t have that. Our low round was 6-under. Historically, in the past, when we won, we had 7, 8, 9-unders pretty regularly and that’s what we were missing this week.” 

As a team, ETSU was eyeing to become just the second team to repeat as tournament champion; however, the Blue and Gold couldn’t catch the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bucs began the day in a three-way tie for first with Missouri and Georgia Southern, but Cincinnati took advantage of the earlier start as they carded a final round tournament record 15-under 273 en route to finishing at 30-under-par 834. 

Cincinnati, who posted its second team win of the fall campaign, won by four shots over Missouri (-26) and 10 strokes over the Blue and Gold (-20). Missouri shot 9-under 279 on Tuesday, while ETSU posted a 3-under 285. This marked the Bucs’ fourth straight top-three finish in their home tournament and ninth overall. 

“Cincinnati played a great round today,” said Amos. “They got off early and got off to a good start. They just kept their foot down. That’s what we wanted to do but it didn’t work out. We actually did the opposite. We got off to a slow start and tried to catch up, but it was just too late. Cincinnati is a good team. They already won this year and I congratulate them on the win.” 

Individually, College of Charleston’s Kieron van Wyk and Missouri’s Jack Lundin earned co-medalist honors as they finished at 13-under-par 203. Van Wyk fired a 6-under 66 in the final round and Lundin added a 5-under 67. 

ETSU sophomore Algot Kleen (Fiskebackskil, Sweden), the first-round leader, shot a 1-under 71 on Tuesday to finish tied for 13th at 5-under-par 211. Freshman Matty Dodd-Berry (Wirral, England), playing as an individual, finished tied for 19th at 2-under-par 214. Dodd-Berry carded an even-par 72 on Tuesday. 

For the tournament, the Bucs totaled the second-most birdies (60) and boasted the second-lowest score on the par-4s (+3). Davies led the entire field with 16 made birdies. 

The Bucs now gear up for the prestigious Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, which gets underway Friday, Oct. 21 in Atlanta. 

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