Dukes Take Third at 2019 CAA Championship

Friday, April 19

Pinehurst No. 8 | Pinehurst, N.C.

James Madison University

CAA Championship

4/21/2019 4:32:00 PM | Men's Golf

@JMUMGolf JMU MG on Instagram Final Results

PINEHURST, N.C. - Freshman George Heath carded a final-round 1-over 72 to tie for the lead before falling in a four-player individual playoff as the James Madison men's golf team took home third place at the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Championship, hosted at the par-71, 7,088-yard Pinehurst No. 8 course.

Heath posted a pair of birdies on the back nine to match his second-round score on a third windy afternoon at Pinehurst, battling his way into a four-way tie atop the 45-player leaderboard at the conclusion of 54 holes. Despite chipping within a yard on the first playoff hole, UNCW's Segundo Oliva Pinto jarred a 12-foot birdie putt to capture the individual title.

The freshman's t-2 finish marked the best leaderboard performance by a JMU golfer at the CAA Championship since then-junior Ryan Cole captured runner-up honors at the 2016 edition of the event.

As a team, the Dukes carded a score of 291 (+7) to maintain their hold on third place amidst a tightly-packed nine team field, finishing just six strokes shy of second-place College of Charleston and 12 back of team champion UNCW.

Junior Walker Cress again matched Heath's final round of 72, battling his way into the top 10 as he closed the championship in a tie for ninth at 219, marking his third top-10 finish of the year and second in as many tournaments to close the season. Freshman Ignacio De Pineda posted his best round of the weekend with a 2-over 73 that pushed him up into a tie for 26th.

Sophomore Ignacio Montero finished a stroke ahead of De Pineda in a tie for 24th after a final-round 74 (+3) that closed out the JMU scoring, while senior Ben Tucker capped his JMU career in a tie for 19th after a 5-over 76 on Sunday afternoon.

PAR-4 SUCCESS
Both Heath and Cress played the weekend's par-4 holes in 1-over across all three rounds, tied for the top mark at the CAA Championship. Heath's nine birdies across his three rounds was also tied for most in the field for the weekend on Pinehurst Resort's difficult No. 8 course.

QUOTING COACH FORBES
"We just couldn't quite get birdie putts to fall today in some big moments. To UNCW's credit, they went on a tear today and we had a pretty significant hole to dig ourselves out of by the later holes. We're very happy for George, who had a fantastic weekend of golf, and we're thankful to Ben for his years as part of the JMU program."