Duke Wins Irish Creek Collegiate, Davidson Places 12th

Saturday, April 9

Kannapolis, N.C.

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Davidson College Athletics

Irish Creek Collegiate (Davidson/Charlotte)

Sam Echikson

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Duke Wins Irish Creek Collegiate, Davidson Places 12th

4/10/2011 6:10:33 PM | Men's Golf

By: Mark Brumbaugh

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – No. 17 Duke (276+285+283=844, -8) fended off No. 28 Wake Forest (280+280+291=851, -1) late in the third and final round Sunday to win the Irish Creek Collegiate Golf Tournament presented by Carolinas Medical Center – NorthEast and hosted by Charlotte and Davidson in conjunction with the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission at The Club at Irish Creek. Davidson placed 12th (305+290+302=897) in the strong 13-team field on the par-71, 7099-yard, Davis Love III designed course.

Duke held a four-stroke lead after the first round, but Wake Forest surpassed the Blue Devils by one stroke at the conclusion of the second round, which was completed Sunday morning after being suspended Saturday afternoon due to thunderstorms. Duke retook the lead but saw it close to as little as one stoke with just a few holes remaining. Wake struggled late though and allowed Duke to finish with an eight-stroke lead for the round.

No. 25 Lee Bedford (Wake Forest) won individual medalist honors by three strokes after finishing seven-under par at 206 (69+69+68).

Freshman Sam Echikson paced the Wildcats for the tournament, placing in a tie for 27th place at 219, three-over par. Echikson posted a 77 in the first round Saturday, but was not fazed by the inclement weather and suspension of play in the second round, as he posted a three-under par 68, for the best collegiate round of his young career. He and classmate Richard Fountain led the 'Cats in the third round with three-over 74's.

Wildcat junior Jackson Taylor also posted his best score of the tournament in the second round with a one-under par 70, but was six-over in the first and final rounds to place in a tie for 46th place at 224. Fountain finished at 228 and was followed by teammates John Skeadas (229) and Bobby Urso (232). Senior Christopher Rollins led Davidson's individual players with a 224 (74+75+75) to join Taylor in the tie for 46th place.

Louisville was the lone unranked team in the top-five, placing third at 856, five strokes behind Wake Forest. No. 43 Middle Tennessee State (865) and No. 44 Kennesaw State (866) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Coastal Carolina was sixth (870), co-host and 2010 tournament champion Charlotte placed seventh at 873. Davidson's lone Southern Conference rival in the tournament, UNCG, took eighth at 882, while Mercer and North Carolina tied for ninth at 886. VCU edged Davidson by five strokes to take 10th and Francis Marion rounded out the field in 13th place (903).

Davidson will next compete in the Southern Conference Championship, which returns to the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, S.C. April 17-19 for the fifth consecutive year.