WCU Men’s Golf Fends Off App State for Runner-Up Finish

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WCU Men’s Golf Fends Off App State for Runner-Up Finish

Pierre Viallaneix leads WCU with a second-place finish at Poston Invitational

Hartwell, Ga. – Four birdies late in Tuesday’s final round at the 2020 JT Poston Invitational led Western Carolina to a runner-up finish as the Catamounts edged longtime archrival Appalachian State by one stroke in the final standings at the par-71, 6,550-yard Cateechee Golf Club. Southern Conference foe Chattanooga cruised to the overall team championship, rallying from a third-place tie after the first round.

Sophomore Magnus Pedersen finished with consecutive birdies on the par-5 17th and par-4 18th to rally to even-par on the day. Junior Louis Theys birdied No. 17 and sophomore Pierre Viallaniex did so on No. 18 to push WCU just in front of the Mountaineers who still had two holes to play when the Catamounts headed for the clubhouse.

The four-stroke swing proved to be just enough as WCU fended off their rivals by a stroke, 851-to-852, to claim the runner-up spot in the final team standings.

Countering back-to-back bogeys on the front nine with three total birdies, Viallaneix finished among a two-way tie for the runner-up spot – the best finish of his young WCU career – to lead the Catamounts. After shooting 1-over par on the front, the Apopka, Fla., native shot 2-under on the back nine to complete his tournament with a 1-under par, 70.

All told, Viallaneix finished with a three-day score of 208, the second-best, 54-hole score of his career – just one stroke off his career-low 207 carded at the JT Poston Invitational at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley last fall. Among his three rounds this week was the tournament’s best single-round of 7-under par, 64, on Sunday that matched his career-best and tied for the second-best 18-hole score in program history. He finished tied for second in the tournament field with 15 birdies.

Theys likewise finished with his second-best, three-round tournament score dating back to the spring of his freshman season in 2019, posting his second career top 10 finish with a tenth-place showing at even-par, 213. The Villers-Perwin, Belgium product played even through 13 holes on Tuesday, countering a bogey on the second hole with a birdie on the par-5 fifth. He managed to respond two additional times with bogeys on No. 14 and No. 16, following those plus-one scores with birdies on the hole following to finish even par.

Pedersen advanced three spots in the final standings for the Catamounts, coming home in a two-way tie for 11th place. One-over par at the turn to home on Tuesday, Pedersen moved back to even with a birdie on the par-3 10th. However, consecutive bogeys on holes 11 and 12 left him 2-over with six holes to play. His crucial consecutive birdies on his tournament’s final two holes moved him back to even-par for the day and 1-over for the event at 214.

Viallaneix finished tied for second in the tournament field with a team-best 15 birdies, one more than Pedersen with 14, and three ahead of Theys with a dozen. Theys paced the squad with 32 pars over the 54-hole competition.

Rounding out WCU’s scorers were junior Tumi Kúld in a two-way tie for 18th at 218, true freshman Presten Richardson in a three-way tie for 26th, and sophomore Quinton Metz in 36th with a three-day score of 237. Kúld posted an eagle on the par-5 third on Tuesday.

Tournament champion Chattanooga roared to the top of the team leaderboard on Monday, posting the fourth-best round in program history at 274. The Mocs (835) stretched their advantage over the second-place battle between WCU and App State over Tuesday’s final 18 holes. Piedmont College finished fourth at 870, with Mercer (877) and Central Arkansas (880) rounding out the six-team field.

UTC’s A.J. Lintunen turned in his second top-five finish of the fall, edging Viallaneix and Mocs teammate Oliver Simonsen by a stroke, 207-to-208. A bogey on No. 17 dropped Simonsen from the two-way tie for the top spot as the duo squared off over the final round on the individual leader board.

The conclusion of the 2020 JT Poston Invitational signals an end to the two-event fall schedule for the WCU men’s golf team. The squad will now turn its attention to the spring championship season.

2020 JT Poston Invitational at Cateechee – FINAL

1 – Chattanooga – 283-274-278 = 835 (-17)
2 – Western Carolina – 276-287-288 = 851 (-1)
3 – Appalachian State – 278-285-289 = 852 (E)
4 – Piedmont College – 287-288-295 = 870 (+18)
5 – Mercer – 283-295-299 = 877 (+25)
6 – Central Arkansas – 288-293-299 = 880 (+28)

2 – Western Carolina – 276-278-288 = 851 (-1)

T2 – Pierre Viallaneix (1) – 64-74-70 = 208 (-5)
10 – Louis Theys (3) – 67-75-71 = 213 (E)
T11 – Magnus Pedersen (2) – 73-70-71 = 214 (+1)
T18 – Tumi Kúld (4) – 72-70-76 = 218 (+5)
T26 – Presten Richardson (5) – 75-73-79 = 227 (+14)
36 – Quinton Metz (6) – 78-83-76 = 237 (+24)