The beginning of this week has been loaded with a lot of golf action as Bob Jones University hosted the 12th annual Bruins Golf Classic at Cobb's Glen Country Club. Sending two teams to the course, the Bruins A Team finished third with the B Team completed the tournament in eight place. 

"There were some positive takeaways, but we are still struggling with some "big numbers" and just a few holes," Head Coach Denny Scott said. "If we can eliminate them, we can really score well."

The Bruins B Team was the first to tee off on Monday and that team consisted of Conner Ingle, Peter Zhong, Brayden Joyner, Luke Jett, and Grant Camfield. Hard fairways, tight out-of-bounds, and difficult greens led to a difficult round for this team. While each golfer was able to find par several times, there were no birdies in round one. 

The Bruins A Team began a little later in the morning, and while they struggled early, they settled in. Brandon Autry stayed consistent with his season so far and led the team shooting even par for the round with two birdies. DJ Waller stayed calm after some struggling holes and made three birdies during the round finishing +6 heading into day two. Eli DeVaughn didn't let his early struggles get to him shooting better on the back nine. The birdie on 15th hole helped him finish the round at +7. Dakota Holt played consistent golf for the majority of the round. After a birdie on hole 15, he had to get out of a tough near out-of-bounds situation. He got through that and finished the first round at +8. Connor Hairgrove rounded out the Bruins A Team shooting +9 in round one which led to a great bounce-back round on Tuesday.

"After a disappointing Round One we definitely needed to bounce back and gain some confidence going into the Regional tournament next week. I certainly believe we did that," Coach Scott said.

With a shotgun start for round two on Tuesday, each golfer started on a different hole. After not getting a single birdie during round one, the Bruins B Team got five birdies, Zhong gathering three, and Joyner and Jett both getting one. Each golfer on the B Team improved during their second round except Conner Ingle who shot consistently both rounds. As a team, they finished eight of nine teams.

The Bruins A Team had an all-around better second round. Holt and Hairgrove both improved from their first round scores by at least five shots. Holt and Hairgrove each made two birdies. While DeVaughn struggled early in the round, he kept his head and finished stronger. With a birdie on hole five, he was able to shoot +9 on the day after starting +6 in the first five holes. DJ Waller battled the greens all day and struggled to find the cup. After a tough round two, Waller stayed positive and is looking forward. 

The story of the day, though, is the Bruins leader Brandon Autry. Coming into today three shots off the lead, Autry had some ground to make up. After the leader gained more ground, Autry found himself down five shots with seven holes to go. His resilience shined bright as he came all the way back, making huge putts, and tied it at the very end! With back-to-back birdies on holes three and four, then later on nine and ten, Autry finished the tournament tied for first place individually at even par. In the playoff hole, his opponent shot a dart and was able to come away with the individual win, but Autry showed his strength again today.

"It was exciting to see Brandon make a charge to tie for individual champion of the Bruins Golf Classic," Coach Scott said. "It has been quite a few years since a Bruin golfer contended for the individual champion. He was a very deserving young man for all the work, time, and energy he has put into his game."

Full results for the Bruins Golf Classic can be found here.

The Bruins compete in the NCCAA South Region Tournament next week in Augusta, Georgia.