OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC – The Southern Virginia University Men's and Women's Golf teams wrapped up the first competition of the spring season, placing second and eighth, respectively, at the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational.

The men's team had three players move up the leaderboard after solid starts to round two. Michael McCaffrey built upon his success on day one, moving up to third place after his opening nine holes. Twice in the front nine McCaffrey followed up a bogey with a bounce-back birdie to shoot even-par.

Brogan Bennett, who sat T-7 coming into the round, rattled off eight straight pars before tallying back-to-back double-bogeys on holes nine and 10. He would add a bogey on hole No. 11 to push him to 5-over on the day. "Brogan played solid but couldn't get many birdies to fall," Head Coach Blair Garner stated.

Jacob Hanchett opened his second round with a bogey on the first, but he did not let that get to him, recording 10 consecutive pars before notching his first birdie of the day on the par-4 twelfth. Hanchett's excellent play propelled him into the top 10, along with Bennett and McCaffrey.

Southern Virginia moved to second place after Hanchett and McCaffrey combined for three birdies on holes 12 and 13. McCaffrey moved to a tie for first place after his birdie on 12, but a bogey on the following hole dropped him back to third place and put the team tied with Bob Jones University.

The Knights restored their second-place position after Hanchett registered his third birdie in four holes, moving him to T-4 individually. Despite back-to-back bogeys to end his round, the Peoria, Arizona native managed a T-5 position after shooting even-par on the day—a new personal best.

"The biggest difference for me today was that I came out with the mentality that I belong with the best in D-III golf—I firmly believe that," Hanchett shared. "I struggled yesterday to get into a grove, but I'm a fighter, and one round doesn't define me as a competitor. I got into a solid rhythm after bogeyed my first hole of the day. I then proceed to make 10 straight pars. I also sprinkled in a few birdies in there, with two of my three birdies being hit within a foot of the cup. The greens were very bouncy, which caused putts to go off line, so I felt the only way to score well was to throw some darts. My last hole of the day was a little frustrating because I hit my driver 320 yards straight through the fairway and into the water. I ended up saving bogey, which I was proud of. I finished the best I could with an unfortunate ending. Competition brings out the best in me, and coming out with that fire helps me to play my best. This tournament is only the beginning for this team and me! Excited to see what we can do in the coming weeks."

McCaffrey tallied a double-bogey on the par-5 sixteenth but followed it up with a birdie on the penultimate hole to get back to 2-over, just missing out on a hole-in-one at the 195-yard par-3. His tee shot stopped just short, leaving a tap-in from six inches to secure the birdie. A par at the last secured a T-2 placement in the first tournament of the spring season.
"Michael's shot at 17 was a key moment and one of the best shots I've ever seen," exclaimed Garner. "This was his best finish ever, and he always seemed to come up with a birdie after making a bogey."

"I feel like I played solid but left some shots out there," McCaffrey expressed. "I missed a few big putts down the stretch and had an errant tee shot that bounced out of bounds on hole 16. Unfortunately, those mistakes ultimately cost me the individual title. More importantly, I'm proud of the entire team for battling the 36 holes and beating some solid programs. We learned a lot about our games and will spend the next few weeks preparing for our next tournament, where we hope to win in Virginia Beach."

The team's second-place finish was the top among division III institutions, with Southern Virginia coming behind only Division II Belmont Abbey College. "I'm very proud of our guys," Garner declared. "It was a battle for second all day with a very good Bob Jones team, but we fought hard to earn our spot."

Jarrett Fultz led the B team, who finished twelfth overall, registering an impressive 75 to skyrocket him inside the top 20 at T-16. "Jarrett played great for us today, and the top-20 finish is well-deserved," added Garner. "He's a streaky putter and made some bombs today."

The women's team moved up two spots on the leaderboard after a difficult round one, improving on day one's score by 24 strokes at the tough Lion's Paw course.

"I'm very grateful that we had the opportunity to play at Lions Paw," expressed CC Banz. "It was a world-class course, and we played with DII players who pushed us to do our best."

Katelynn Leavitt's solid second round helped the team improve its positioning, shooting 13 shots better than the first day. Her 83 was a team-low on the round and the sixth-best of the entire tournament, pushing her to the top half of the leaderboard.

"My mentality for the first day was not where it needed to be since it was the first tournament of the season," admitted Leavitt. "After the first round I talked with some friends and decided to change my mentality and get a little more zoned in for day two. During my range session this morning I listened to my favorite music to really get locked in. I really worked on self encouragement during the round and maintained positivity throughout the day. I was able to stay zoned in and shot one of the best rounds of my life. I hope to use this rounds to create positive momentum for the rest of the season."

Quinn Shupe also improved on day two, dropping six shots off her first-round score to finish one behind Leavitt. Shupe was especially impressive in the opening nine holes, registering six pars and shooting a team-low 41. "That was some of Quinn's best golf of the year," exclaimed Assistant Coach Russell Banz.

CC Banz's consistent play saw her close out the tournament with back-to-back scores of 86, securing a top-20 placement to open up the spring season.

"I didn't play my best, but I'm happy with how I did considering how tough the course was playing," Banz stated. "The pins were in some wicked placements that made it harder to score, but I'm so proud of our team and how we handled the conditions."

"The ladies fought hard today with some tricky pins," shared coach Banz. "I am very proud of the improvement from the first round. Moving up two spots shows how resilient our athletes are. This tournament was a good learning experience and will help us be a better golf team."

"Since it was the first tournament of the spring, it's just made me more and more excited for the rest of the season," added CC Banz. "After this tournament, I'm feeling really motivated to work on my game so that we come out on top in our next tournament! I love the girls and our coaches and am so glad they didn't let any gators eat us!"

The teams will have three weeks to prepare for the Marlin Invitational in Virginia Beach, which begins on Monday, Mar. 20.

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