DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (October 3, 2023) – Senior
Gus Vickers fired a 2-under 69 to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology golf team at the Royal Lakes Fall Invitational, hosted by Oglethorpe University at the West Pines Golf Club.
Vickers, who finished 8-over in the opening round, carded four birdies Tuesday to climb an impressive 41 places to tie for 22nd out of 96 golfers. Vickers was one of just 10 golfers to complete the second round under par and his score of 69 was tied for the third mark of the day. The West Pines Golf Club is a par 71, 6.782-yard course. The Naples, Florida native totaled six birdies across the two-day event and finished six-over.
As a team, the Ducks trimmed seven strokes of their opening round score, improving from 308 to 301, tying for 13th out of 18 teams. The seven-stroke improvement from the opening round to the second marked the sixth-best improvement of any team in the highly competitive field.
Individually, Oglethorpe's Beck Lewis won the individual title with an impressive score of 133, finishing nine strokes under par. Lewis finished four shots ahead of teammate Sam Karman. The two had fired a 4-under 67 to tie for the lead after the opening round Oglethorpe also won the team crown, finishing 5-under for the tournament, with a two-round score of 561.
The event marked the official collegiate debuts of first-years
Sebastian Beaver and
Dillon Kim. Stevens returned to the course for the first time in three weeks following the weather-related cancelation of the FDU FallI Invitational.
The Rundown
- Beaver and sophomore Austin Liao led the Ducks through the opening round, finishing 3-over. Liao would be the Ducks second-best finisher, tying for 30th place after finishing 5-over Tuesday. Liao and Beaver each carded three birdies.
- In his first collegiate event, Kim carded two birdies and finished +16.
- First-year Ben Slicker finished second on the team with five birdies and finished +21 for the tournament.
Top Performers
- As a team, the Ducks were at their best on par 3's, finishing with the fifth-best average (3.30 strokes).
- The Ducks finished in the middle of the pack in pars (98) and birdies (19). There were only eight eagles across the tournament.
- Vickers posted the fourth-best scoring average on par 3's (3.10). Beaver was the Ducks' top performer on par 4's (4.22), while Vickers led the squad on par 5's (4.88).
- Liao led the team with 23 pars, while Vickers led the team in birdies (6), which tied for sixth in the field.
For the Opponents
- Seven players in the field finished under par for the tournament.
- Oglethorpe finished 23 strokes ahead of its closest competitor.
- The field was made up of three teams ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek DIII Preseason Coaches' Poll and another five that received votes.
- Golfers from eight different institutions finished in the top-10.
Around the MAC Freedom
- DeSales tied for second (334) at the Moravian John Makuvek Cup (Sept. 21)
- DeSales finished fifth (330) out of 10 teams at the Moravian Weyhill Classic (Sept. 25)
- Delaware Valley finished sixth (331) out of 10 teams at the Moravian Weyhill Classic (Sept. 25)
- Lebanon Valley placed seventh (339) out of 10 teams at the Moravian Weyhill Classic (Sept. 25)
- FDU-Florham placed 10th (362) out of 10 teams at the Moravian Weyhill Classic (Sept. 25)
Coach's Comments
- "[I am] actually encouraged by our play and am focusing on the positives as our takeaways, such as a few nice rounds from our first years, as well as an excellent final round from our captain, Gus. With two events on the schedule at the end of the week, I'm hoping that our consistency develops." – head coach Charles Papendick
Up Next
- Stevens has a quick turnaround, returning to the course on Thursday, Oct. 5 for the single-day Drew Birdie Bash.
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