The Chattanooga Mocs are off to a solid start at the General Hackler Championships. The Mocs are tied for first with Louisville at 2 under through 18 holes, one ahead of No. 15 ETSU in third.
The Mocs 286 was led by senior John Houk. Houk breezed through the day with five birdies and 13 pars tying for the early individual lead with Walker Isley of UNCW with matching 67s at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club.
“I thought we did a good job kicking off the event,” Coach Blaine Woodruff shared.
“The first couple of holes played very tough, but we weathered them well and put together a solid round. We still left a bunch out there, but it’s fun to be in contention and excited to go back out and compete tomorrow.”
Samuel Espinosa came in with level-par 72. Paul Conroy is one behind him with 73 followed by Braedon Wear at 74 to complete the counting cards. Dalton Chuba had the drop tally of 76.
The Mocs opened on the 10th, an odd starting spot for the third-highest ranked team in the field. Considered the more difficult side, the quintet made the turn at 1 under with Conroy off to a slow start, 3 over in the first seven holes meaning the final counters combined to turn at 2 over.
Conroy registered three of the group’s nine birdies on the front side. The previously mentioned Houk continued his bogey-free romp, while Wear, Espinosa and Conroy had just four as they combined to post 2 under which is where the team completed the day.
The field returns to the tee Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. The Mocs, Cardinals and Bucs match up beginning at 10:30 a.m., led by Chuba. Wear (10:39), Conroy (10:48), Espinosa (10:57) and Houk (11:06) come next off of No. 1 as the final pairings.
General Hackler Collegiate
March 18-20 (Mon-Wed) | Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dunes Golf & Beach Club | Par 72 | 7,233 yards | 54 holes (18/day)
T1) (33) Chattanooga: 286 (-2)
T1) (48) Louisville: 286 (-2)
3) (15) ETSU: 287 (-1)
T4) College of Charleston: 288 (E)
T4) UNCW: 288 (E)
6) Liberty: 290 (+2)
7) Furman: 292 (+4)
T8) (28) North Florida: 294 (+6)
T8) Coastal Carolina: 294 (+6)
T10) Little Rock: 296 (+8)
T10) San Francisco: (296 (+8)
12) Western Carolina: 299 (+11)
13) Kent State: 300 (+12)
14) Charleston Southern: 308 (+20)
Chattanooga Lineup
T1) John Houk: 67 (-5)
T13) Samuel Espinosa: 72 (E)
T22) Paul Conroy: 73 (+1)
T33) Braedon Wear: 74 (+2)
T54) Dalton Chuba: 76 (+4)
Field (Top 100 ranking)
(33) Chattanooga, (71) College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, (15) ETSU, (92) Furman, (89) Kent State, (87) Liberty, (93) Little Rock, (48) Louisville, (79) UNCW, (28) North Florida, (82) San Francisco & Western Carolina