Men's Golf Ties for Fifth at Ocean Course Invitational

Sunday, September 9

Kiawah Island - Ocean Course | Kiawah Island, S.C.

James Madison University

Invitational at the Ocean Course

9/10/2018 6:41:00 PM | Men's Golf

@JMUMGolf JMU MG on Instagram Final Results Photo Gallery

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - The James Madison men's golf team closed its opening tournament of 2018-19 in a tie for fifth place on Monday afternoon, taking home its first top-five of the year at a weather-shortened Invitational at the Ocean Course, hosted by College of Charleston at the par-72, 7,324-yard Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

Originally scheduled for 54 holes concluding on Tuesday afternoon, the approach of Hurricane Florence forced the shortening of the event to 36 holes, wrapping up at the conclusion of Monday's second round.

As a team, the Dukes carded a 297 (+9) on the day, closing the abbreviated week in a tie for fifth alongside Georgia Southern at 592 (+16) at the 14-school tournament.

Freshman Ignacio de Pineda led the way for the Dukes on Monday, climbing eight spots on the leaderboard and into a tie for 30th at the 81-player event. De Pineda carded birdies on his second and third holes of the day, then held on to post a 1-over 73 that left him at 149 (+5) in his first collegiate action.

Sophomore Ignacio Montero posted his own round of 1-over 73, improving a stroke on his opening-round score to close the week in a tie for 17th, while senior Ben Tucker notched his fourth top-10 finish in six tournaments, dating back to last season, carding a final-round 2-over 74 to finish tied for seventh (145; +1).

Sophomore Quinn Tardif bounced back from a rocky opening nine to close out the JMU scoring with a 5-over 77 that closed his week tied for 45th, while junior Ryan Cox finished tied for 60th after a final-round 82.

QUOTING COACH FORBES
"There was probably a better score out there for us today; we just didn't quite convert some of the things we wanted to. It's unfortunate to face weather problems for the second year in a row here, but that's just unlucky. We found some things we need to work on and we'll get home and look forward to VCU next week."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will remain in the Commonwealth next week, heading to the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond to take part in the 2018 Janney Invitational on Mon.-Tues., Sept. 17-18. Last year at this event, JMU took home ninth place.