Golf

East Carolina Wins Elon Phoenix Invitational By 23 Strokes

The East Carolina men's golf team won the Elon Phoenix Invitational by 23 strokes at the Alamance Country Club on Oct. 20 behind five top-10 individual finishes.

East Carolina shot a three round total of 19-under-par 833 (279-285-269), the third lowest 54-hole score in school history, to win its first tournament of the season and its 10th under head coach Press McPhaul.

Senior Jacob Hicks posted a career-low score of 8-under 205 to finish as medalist runner-up, finishing one stroke behind individual champion Adam Bell of VCU. Hicks fired a final round 69 to finish with the fourth lowest 54-hole in ECU golf lore. He birdied 11 holes and pared 40 others, second-most in the field.

Junior Jackson Spires finished fourth with a career-low 5-under 208, shooting a personal-best 65 in Tuesday’s final round. Senior Wes Conover earned his first top-10 finish of the season, placing fifth at 3-under 210. Conover led the field with 18 birdies and shot a career-low round 65 during round three.

Sophomore Tim Conover also posted his first top-10 finish of year as he placed eighth at par-213, which included a career-low round 69 to close out the tournament. Senior Al Dickens registered his third top-10 finish this season with a 2-over 215 to tie for ninth.

Charleston Southern claimed runner up honors at 4-over 856 followed by VCU (+9), Elon (+25) and Radford (+33) to round out the top-5. Gardner-Webb (+34), Appalachian State (+35), Delaware (+36), Mount Olive (+39) and Presbyterian (+51) complete the top-10.