APSU Sports Information
Pawleys Island, SC – Only a late stumble in the final round prevented Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s golf from emerging as one of the best program’s in attendance at the GolfWeek Program Championship at True Blue Resort.
Through 15 final-round holes, the Govs were eight-under par for the day and 13-under on the tournament and right in the thick of the battle for second place.
However, the Govs collectively posted an eight-over showing on the final three holes to give it all back, finishing with a five-under 859 (282-289-288) for the tournament—a good showing, but what might have been will be the focus moving forward.
“We got off to a good start and made a lot birdies early to work our way up the leaderboard,” said head coach Robbie Wilson.
“We made some mistakes down the stretch and just couldn’t close it out today. But overall, this was a solid start for us; some of the guys played really well, it was particularly nice to see Micah (Knisley) play well in his first college start. We’ll get right back to work with Memphis less than a week away,” Wilson stated.
Junior Alex Vegh built off a solid second-round showing by shooting an even-par 72 in the final round to finish tied for 10th at 211 (70-69-72); he was the only Gov at par or better in all three rounds, helped no doubt by a tournament-best 4.33 stroke average on par-5 holes, including birdie on all five par-5s on Tuesday.
Knisley’s debut appearance as a Gov saw him finish with a two-under 214 (69-71-74) and a share of 20th. The Jefferson City, TN native sank 15 birdies—tied with Vegh for the team-high—and averaged 3.83 strokes on par-4 attempts, third-lowest in the tournament.
A huge start to the final round bumped sophomore Garrett Whitfield way up the leaderboard.
The Johnson City native posted a four-under 33 on the front-nine and sank five birdies on his first 11 holes; he finished with a 69 for the day and a 220 (73-78-69) for the tournament, moving 20 spots up the leaderboard to a tie for 43rd.
He spent the week consistently getting up-and-down, leading the entire tournament with 41 pars. Junior Michael Busse posted his best outing of the tournament with a final-round 73, posting a 226 (75-78-73) over three rounds of work.
The Govs will keep it local next week, heading to the Volunteer State’s southwest corner for the Memphis Intercollegiate. The two-day event will take place at Colonial Country Club.
