GREENSBORO, N.C. - App State men's golf finished third to close out tournament play at the 15th Annual Grandover Collegiate, hosted by UNC Greensboro. For the first time since the 2017-18 season, the Mountaineers have posted three straight top-three finishes.
"We got off to a slow start this morning, but we hung in there and finished strong," first-year head coach Danny Forshey said. "I'm so proud of the way our guys fought until the end."
App State's late-round surge past Virginia Tech can be credited to the Black and Gold posting the event's second-lowest final round, a 9-over 297. At 27-over-par, the Mountaineers finished three strokes ahead of the Hokies and 14 strokes better than Penn State, among the field of 11.
"Nicholas (Gunnell) came up big for us today, making six birdies and overcoming adversity all day," Forshey said. "Tirto (Tamardi) came up huge by birdying two of his last three holes. Dylan (Lukes) was clutch by finishing his last nine holes 1-under-par. A great week for our program."
UNCG took home both the team, for the second straight year, and individual title. Nick Lyerly won the invitational medalist honor with a 3-under 213. Rutgers claimed the second spot of the tournament with a 21-over 885.
On the player leaderboard, two App State golfers finished in the top 10, marking the sixth instance where a Mountaineer has cracked the top 10 this fall season.
Both Timithous Tirto Tamardi (71-74-74) and Jake Lane (74-71-74) carded a 3-over 219 to finish tied for seventh, respectively.
With today's top-10 finish, Lane has now finished inside the top 10 for the 11th time of his career, while Tamardi claimed his fifth. Tamardi finished in the top 10 on the player leaderboards for the third consecutive tournament.
Dylan Lukes tied for 22nd with an 11-over 227 (77-75-75) by finishing the last nine holes under par. Highlighting Lukes' outing was his round-one eagle on hole No. 2, a 535-yard par 5. The eagle was his second of the fall season and the team's seventh.
In terms of par 3 scoring for the tournament, Lukes ranked second with a 2.92 average.
Nicholas Gunnell sank a total of six birdies during the final round to place tied for 31st with a 14-over-par 230 (79-77-74). Only one other golfer had more with seven.
Freshman Addison Beam entered the clubhouse with a 14-over 230 (75-77-78) in his first tournament start of his collegiate career. Beam finished tied for 31st.
Lukas Jönnson posted a 16-over 232 effort as an individual for the Mountaineers. Jönnson (76-76-80) finished tied for 39th.
Only one tournament remains on the fall slate for the Black and Gold. The Mountaineers will compete in the Kiawah Classic at Turtle Point, hosted by Charleston Southern University, in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The event is set to begin Nov. 3.
Team Leaderboard:
1 UNCG +12
2 Rutgers University +21
3 App State +27
4 Virginia Tech +30
5 Penn State +41
6 Chattanooga +47
7 VCU +49
8 Ohio +61
9 Elon +77
10 Seton Hall Univ. +82
11 Villanova +93
