Sear, WVU Golf Take Second at Penn State

Sear, WVU Golf Take Second at Penn State

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 15, 2018) – Led by junior Max Sear’s individual runner-up finish, the West Virginia golf team finished second at the 42nd Annual Rutherford Intercollegiate, hosted by Penn State at the Penn State Blue Golf Course in State College, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.

After shooting 280-287 on the first day of play to enter the third round in third place, the Mountaineers shot a 292 in cold, wet and windy conditions – tying for the second-best team round of the day. The finished second with a 54-hole team total of 859 for seven-over par. The No. 42 Nittany Lions put together the best team round of the day with a 288 to claim the team title at eight under with an 844. WVU finished eight strokes ahead of Oakland, who took third with an 867 at 15 over.

It marked West Virginia Golf’s’ third runner-up finish on the year. They also end the regular season with a trio of wins in just their third season of varsity competition.

Sear registered his fifth top-10 finish in tournament play this season, taking second overall with a score of 209 for four-under par. He shot 67-72-70 and finished three strokes back from medalist Cole Miller of Penn State.

“I’m really proud of the guys today,” coach Sean Covich said. “It was a difficult day out there and only one player in the field broke par today. Max played great all weekend. He’s been a flat-out leader for us since his first day on campus. It was a great season for us with two wins and three runner-up finishes, and an overall winning record for first time since we restarted the golf program. This group right here has a lot of good golf ahead of them. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish not only at Big 12s next week but next season.”

Sophomore Etienne Papineau also registered a top-10 finish, his third of the year, as he tied for eighth place. He carded a three-round total of 69-71-74=214 to finish one over in the event.

Freshmen Matthew Sharpstene and Mark Goetz tied for 18th place as four of five WVU starters ended the tournament in the top-20. Sharpstene shot 69-75-74, while Goetz’s scorecard showed 75-71-72. The two posted matching totals of 218 for five over.

Playing as an individual, senior Avery Schneider registered a 54-hole total of 75-73-77=225. He tied for 46th place at 12-over par.

Freshman Logan Perkins shot 77-76-76=229, taking 59th place at 16-over par.

The Mountaineer golf team travels to the 2018 Big 12 Championship from April 23-25 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Follow @WVUSports and @WVUGolf on Twitter