Brady Wentz’s record-breaking round helps the Eagles to an 11th place finish at the St. Leo Invitational
The junior’s seven-under 65 ties the 2nd lowest round in C-N golf history and helped C-N move up into solo 11th of 17 teams on the final day of the event.
DADE CITY, Fla. – The junior's seven-under 65 ties the 2nd lowest round in C-N golf history and helped C-N move up into solo 11th of 17 teams on the final day of the event.
The Eagles did well in the final two rounds of the event, putting together back-to-back rounds of -2 as a team. The 286 in rounds two and three from the Eagles' best a season low from the fall, and marks steady improvement for the team. Overall, C-N's 863 marks a season low as well by 14 strokes.
Coming into the tournament, the Eagles were ranked #76 in the NCAA, but with this strong finish, Carson-Newman bests two top 50 teams in Tampa and Eckerd. C-N was just one stroke off of #40 Palm Beach Atlantic and two off #23 Rollins. Florida Southern won the team title with an 839 (-25).
On the final day of the event, Brady Wentz matched his younger brother with a record-tying round of his own. The junior shot a seven-under 65, tying four other golfers in C-N history for the 2nd lowest round in history. The lowest round by an Eagle in the program's tenure was a 63 by Jonathan Nielsen on October 25, 2021.
"Great day for Brady Wentz," said head coach Randy Wylie. "Ok for us as a team. Making too many double bodies, but I can see the team improving."
Wentz's day had just one snag on the 15th. Otherwise, he made four birdies on the back nine to come in at 33 and kept things consistent after the turn. He wrote down a birdie at the 2nd and 7th, but the best was yet to come. On the 537-yard par five 9th, Wentz hit a great drive, hit his four-iron to 20 feet, and made a marvelous putt to card an eagle on his final hole of the day. With the great round, Wentz climbed 41 spots on the leaderboard for a 38th place finish out of 100 golfers in the event. He finished one over across his 54 holes.
Theo Baker was the Eagles' next best round on the final day. Baker kicked off his day with two birdies on the 8th and 9th, doubled the 10th, and went right back to birdie the 11th. This seemed to be the theme of his day after be birdied the 15th, doubled the 16th and birdied the 17th. He recorded another birdie on the 5th hole and circled his final hole of the day for a 73 (+1). Baker finished at +3 for the weekend and was tied for 49th.
Bowen Wentz was C-N's top finisher for the weekend. The freshman had a great first nine holes in his final round of the day, writing three birdies down to come in at 33. When Wentz made the turn, he circled one more bird on the par-five 5th before doubling two of his final three holes to finish the event with a 74 (+2). Wentz's great first two rounds helped him finish three under for the weekend and land him just outside the top 20 at 21st.
Dylan Frein was one of the more consistent players for C-N today. The freshman recorded seven pars on the back nine (he started on hole 10) with a birdie at the 15th and a bogey on the 17th. On his front nine, he made five more pars to couple with three bogeys and one birdie on his final hole of the day. Frein's 74 (+2) in the final round summed to a three-round total of +3 and tied for 49th.
Owen Larson was C-N's final finisher. The sophomore made six pars on the back nine for a 39 coming in. Larson fought with a birdie on the 9th but finished with a 79 (+7) on the final day. Larson was 83rd overall.
With their 11th-place finish, C-N will look to spend the next few weeks improving for the Ralph Hargett Memorial on March 16th and 17th in Monroe, NC. You can follow along for updates on social media @cneagles or check cneagles.com for full coverage
