The men's golf team was back on the course as they hosted the 10th annual Bruins Golf Classic, a 36-hole two-day event from Cobb's Glen Country Club in Anderson, South Carolina. The Bruins finished second overall with a team score of 616, just four strokes out of first place.
"This was a solid tournament for us finishing in second place just 4 strokes behind the winning team, Spartanburg Methodist College," said Head Coach Denny Scott. "The competitive experience gained by some of the younger team members was certainly invaluable to their development. Overall, a lot of positive takeaways as we prepare for the NCCAA South Region Championship next week."
The Bruins got the whole team competing as they put two teams on the course for the two-day event. The team would play host to seven teams and 41 golfers over the two-day tournament. The Bruins Golf Classic featured two squads from BJU, two from Spartanburg Methodist College, and teams from Columbia International University, Covenant College, and Paine College.
Bob Jones entered this week after a solid competition at Alice Lloyd Fall Invitational last week highlighted by a new school record by Nicholas Smith who posted a Round 2 18-hole score of 64.
On Monday, Timmy Smith, Peter Bincheng, Nicholas Smith, Josiah Swaffer, and Conner Hairgrove got the tournament started for the Bruins A-Team. At the turn in Round 1, Timmy Smith and Nicholas Smith each led the Bruins even at par with a score of 36. Josiah Swaffer saw himself with a 41 through the half of the course before making four birdies on the back nine to finish with 76. After a solid first day, Timmy Smith finished Round 1 even at 72 to lead the Bruins to a team score of 305.
The Bruins B-Team, Brandon Autry, David Towberman, Spencer Cable, Michael Abdo, and Grant Camfield. finished just one stroke behind Paine College to finish Round 1 in 5th place.
After beginning Tuesday with four consecutive pars, Timmy Smith birdied on his fifth hole to go 1-under. He finished Round 2 with a 76, 4-over par. and would complete tournament with a score of 148 which was good enough for a 2nd place finish as an individual. Not too far behind Timmy was Peter Bincheng, who would set a career personal best as a Bruins golfer. Bincheng opened the day with two birdies in his first three holes to get to 2-under par early. His success continued as went on to record three more birdies to see a strong Round 2 finish with a new career best of 70 and finished the tournament with an individual score of 149 to place 3rd overall as an individual.
In Round 2, the Bruins A-Team would score 311 for a total team score of 616 to come in 2nd place overall. The B-team saw improvement through Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to catch Paine College as they ended the tournament 6th overall.
Final results from the Bruins Golf Classic can be found
here.
With the conclusion of the Bruins Golf Classic, the Bruins look to prepare for the NCCAA South Region Championship next week. The South Region Championship will be September 25 and 26 in Keysville, GA.
