CASHIERS, N.C. - On the strength of the best team round in program history, Appalachian State University men's golf powered from seventh place Tuesday morning to win the Hummingbird Intercollegiate, 292-273=565 (-3).
Sophomore Casey Komline led the Apps with a third-place finish at 73-65=138 (-4). His 65 on Tuesday was the lowest of any player at the event, the lowest of his career and ties the lowest round ever by a Mountaineer.His round included an eagle on the Country Club of Sapphire Valley's sixth hole. The Dorset, Vt. native also holed 10 birdies at the event.
Dustin Hudson followed with a 73-70=143 (+1) to tie for 11th place with newcomer John Michael Cole. Cole finished with a 75-68=143, including an eagle of his own. The sophomore also led the 92-player field in par-3 scoring with a 2.75 average on the course's short holes.
Josh Nichols carded a 71-76=147 (+5) to tie for 31st and Darren Cook shot a 78-70=148 (+6) for 38th.
Competing as an individual, Daniel Walsh finished 63rd with a 76-76=152 (+10).
ASU won by two strokes over second-place UAB, while Gardner-Webb surrendered its first-round lead to finish third, eight strokes behind the Apps.
GWU's Kristopher Gray held on for the individual medal at 67-68=135 (-7), two strokes ahead of UAB's Paul Dunne.
From the Southern Conference, Furman placed fourth at 583 (+15), Samford and host Western Carolina tied for eighth at 586 (+18), Wofford finished 11th at 592 (+24) and Elon rounded out the league in 14th with a 596 (+28).
The win is the Mountaineers' first since last spring's Don Benbow North-South Invitational. ASU's previous best team round was 281, which the team had shot three times, and as recently as 2009.
Head coach Bill Dicus' squad wraps up the fall next week on Nov. 8-9 at the Stetson University Invitational at DeLand, Fla.'s Victoria Hills Country Club.