By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
DICKSON, Tenn. – After a brilliant turnaround from rounds one to two Monday afternoon, the Tennessee Tech men's golf team saved the best for last on Tuesday at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate.
After jumping from 10th out of 10 teams to seventh place on Monday, the Golden Eagles turned in their best round of the fall season, firing a composite 292 to leap once more into a tie for fourth place. For the event, Tech finished at 307-296-292=895, tying Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State and defeating host Austin Peay by a decisive 10 strokes.
It's safe to say a total team effort across the board led the Golden Eagles' best finish of the season, as fourth members of the Tech squad finished within one stroke of each other.
Junior Alexander Riddle led the way, rebounding from a second-round 79 to match his first round mark of 73 and tie his season-low of 225. The score proved enough to place him 23rd in the 60-man field, just ahead of a trio of teammates.
Those three teammates, sophomore Matthew Giles, freshman Dabney Dickenson and freshman Cameron Yeary, all tied for 24th overall after each compiling final three-round totals of 226. Giles carded a 78-71-77=226 while Dickenson turned in an 82-73-71=226, by far the best outing of his young career. Yeary posted rounds of 78, 73 and 75 for his 226, making a major impact with each score of the tournament.
A key factor on Tuesday, junior A.J. Wilkerson rounded out the scoring for the Golden Eagles, coming on strong for a 73 over his final 18 holes. For the event, he turned in a 78-80-73=231.
"I'm just really proud of how the men continually improved each round," head coach Polk Brown said. "To go from seventh to fourth in one round is never easy, but the guys really played well today with a solid final round and good overall finish in the event. We are looking forward to another solid event in two weeks when we close out the fall in Birmingham."
The Tech squad will indeed wrap up fall play in Birmingham, Ala., heading south Oct. 31 through Nov. 1 for the Samford Intercollegiate at Greystone Golf & Country Club.
Photo by Cody Bryant