GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Newberry improved by one stroke in each round of The Trojan, a 54-hole tournament hosted by Mount Olive in Goldsboro, N.C., to earn its fifth top-two finish of the season.
The Wolves were six strokes better than the tournament hosts on Tuesday, shooting a 296 to Mount Olive’s 302, but could not overcome Mount Olive’s 13-stroke lead heading into the final day.
Carlos Leandro’s sixth-place effort gave him his second top-10 finish of the season. He finished at four-over for the tournament to lead Newberry in scoring for the first time of the 2016-17 season.
Spencer Skiff had Newberry’s best round of the day with a one-over 73 to finish in a tie for 11th. It was just the second time in Newberry’s eight tournaments this season that Skiff finished outside the top 10. Skiff finished tied with Luke Atack, who was competing as an individual and did not factor into Newberry’s team score. Atack’s six-over 222 was punctuated by an even-par 72 in the second round Monday, one off his season-best.
Harry Bolton finished at eight over to give Newberry three scorers inside the top 15 finishers. His two-over 74 equaled his first-round score from Monday as his best of the tournament. It was his third-best result of the season and second consecutive top-15 finish after landing in 10th place at the Bearcat Golf Classic.
Ben Thompson finished 27th at 14 over to give Newberry its fourth score. Evan DeGrazia rebounded from a difficult Monday to shoot a two-over 74 and finish 45th.
Newberry maintained a slim advantage over third-place Barton, which finished two strokes behind the Wolves. Belmont Abbey and Pfeiffer tied for fourth two shots further back.
The Wolves next compete in two weeks at the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Men’s Golf Championship, hosted by Catawba at the Salisbury Country Club.