Wildcats Place Sixth at St. John's McLaughlin :: Villanova shoots final round 286 in 54-hole tournament

Sept. 27, 2004

BETHPAGE, N.Y.Senior captain Charles Nettleton and junior Jonathan Hewett each carded a 1-over-par 71 in Saturday's final round, and the Wildcats wrapped up the 54-hole McLaughlin Cup with a team score of 286 on the Bethpage Red Course. That team score was just six strokes over par and was the squad's lowest round (relative to par) in nearly five years.

Hewett and freshman Patrick Murphy led the Wildcats with ninth-place finishes in the field of 47 golfers. Hewett posted scores of 76-72-71=219 for a 9-over-par finish. Playing in his first collegiate event, Murphy fired rounds of 73-74-72=219.

Villanova was tied for seventh place after shooting 307-295 on Friday, but moved up thanks to its round on Saturday. Murphy and junior Henry Watson each carded a 72 and sophomore Brock Bergman had the drop score of 74.

With their scores this weekend, Hewett and Bergman have each posted five straight rounds in the 70's this season. Bergman was tied for 31st in this weekend's tournament with scores of 77-76-74=227, while Hewett notched his third career top-10 finish. Nettleton was tied for 26th with scores of 81-73-71=225 and Watson placed 40th with scores of 81-81-72=234.

The tournament began with two rounds on Friday followed by the final 18 holes on Saturday morning. The University of Maryland built an eight-stroke advantage after Friday's rounds and then produced a 3-under-par round of 277 on Saturday to take title honors by 22 strokes over the host Red Storm. Boston College followed in third place (880). The teams that finished between fourth and seventh place were separated by just five strokes. Temple finished at 886 to place fourth and was followed by Connecticut (887), Villanova (888) and St. Thomas Aquinas (891).

Tyler Whitman of Maryland took medalist honors with a two-day total of 71-71-70=212, beating out teammate Matt Schall by one stroke.

Villanova will have a week off before heading to the JMU Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va. That event will be contested on October 8-9 at the par-71 Lakeview GC.

NOTES: Villanova shot a 1-over-par round of 289 on October 17, 1999 at the par-72 Lehigh Stabler Invitational ... After its first two tournaments, Villanova has an average team round of 298.20 ... Last season the team's average round was 311.50 ... Hewett has a team-best 73.20 stroke average through the first two tournaments.