Men’s Golf wraps up regular season at Ashland Spring Invitational

ASHLAND, Ohio – The Catawba College men's golf team sent 10 golfers to the Ashland Spring Invitational, watching its first team take fifth place while the second took eighth as play concluded on Sunday.

Paul Esnault had a second-round eagle to end the first day in 17th, then shot up the standings with a par 72 in Round 3 to finish T-11th at 220 (+4). Pranay Kapur logged a final score of 225 (+9), thanks to his 71 in the second round to register the second under-par 18 of his rookie season, and slotted T-23rd.

Allan Lockwood also chalked in a 71, doing so in the final round to climb 10 spots into T-30th place with a 227-stroke (+11) performance. Connor Carter made steady improvements throughout the event as the Asheboro, N.C. native went 79-76-74 (229, +13) to stack up T-35th. Ilia Antoniadis rounded out Catawba's varsity squad in T-39th with a score of 230 (+14).

Leading the second group of five, Ryan Masterton put together a consistent three-round outing with a 75-77-74 (226, +10) card in a 27th-place effort. Luke Nelson was fifth on the leaderboard after his opening-round par before collecting an eagle on the 15th hole, the course's longest par 5, in the second as he finished T-30th at 227 (+11).

Also boasting a second-round eagle on No. 15, Justin Nagy turned in back-to-back 75s to wrap up proceedings to take home T-35th with 229 shots (+13) in the event. Hayden Mincey's third-round 73 ranked third among all 10 Catawba golfers as the junior placed 42nd at 234 (+18). Tanner Frye pocketed a 43rd-place finish, posting consecutive 78s on the first day with an 81 on the last to record a 237 (+21).

Esnault's consistent tournament and strong individual rounds propelled the first squad to tie for fifth place in the nine-team event at 897 (+33). The second team was boosted by top-30 finishes by Masterton and Nelson that resulted in a score of 911 (+47), good for eighth place.

Powered by two podium finishers including individual medalist Josh DiCarlo (208, -8), Wayne State led wire-to-wire to bag the team crown with an 854 (-10). 17th-ranked Missouri S&T was nine shots behind, but also below par at 863 (-1) in a runner-up placement.

UP NEXT

Catawba turns its attention to the postseason, beginning with the South Atlantic Conference Championships held on Apr. 13-15 at The Preserve at Verdae in Greenville, S.C.