Adam Hooker, WCU Men’s Golf Second at Wofford Invitational

Graduate transfer Adam Hooker posted an opening-day, two-round score of 9-under par 133 on Monday that included his career-low round of 65 to sit in the runner-up position with 18 holes to play at the Wofford Invitational. Joined by redshirt junior transfer Pablo Hernandez in fifth place, five strokes in arrears, the duo guided Western Carolina into second place entering Tuesday’s final round at the par-71, 6,703-yard Country Club of Spartanburg.

The Catamounts carded team rounds of 274 and 283 to stand 13 strokes behind the two-round leader, No. 49 Chattanooga as the Mocs shot 24-under par 544 as a team. WCU’s first-round 274 represents the second-best 18-hole score in program history, just behind the team score of 271 carded in the first round of the EKU Intercollegiate back in the fall of 2021.

Paired with golfers from first-round leader Chattanooga and third-place standing Appalachian State, the Catamount scoring-five open Tuesday’s final round shotgun start between the first and third holes with a 9 a.m. start.

Hooker played a bogey-free first round, charting 13 pars with four birdies and an eagle over the opening 18 holes for his career-low round of 6-under par 65. Seven pars and two birdies left the Lebanon, Va., product 2-under par headed to the front nine of Monday’s second round. His second eagle coming on the par-5 No. 1 followed by a birdie on the par-4 second left him at 5-under for the second round. However, Hooker bogeyed three of his next six holes before closing the round with his eighth birdie of the day for the 3-under par 68.

All told, Hooker was one of four individuals to chart two eagles in the opening 36 holes of competition.

Hernandez posted back-to-back rounds of 2-under par 69 to climb three spots into fifth after 36 holes of play. Three-under par through 10 holes of his first round, Hernandez countered a pair of bogeys with his fourth birdie for the first-round 69. A double-bogey on the par-4 15th relegated him back to even-par early in his second round before the Spaniard rallied to post two more birdies and 11 pars to close his day with a second 2-under, 69.

Senior Magnus Pedersen and redshirt freshman Josh Lendach are both tied for 31st overall after shooting matching scores of 70 and 73. Pedersen carded a team-best nine birdies on Monday – five in the 1-under par 70 first round and four in the 2-over par 73 second round. Lendach had eight birdies, also securing five over the opening 18 holes.

Rounding out WCU’s scoring five is sophomore Kiefer Bulau, a late entry for the Catamounts over the weekend ahead of Monday’s first round, in a tie for 52nd overall at 4-over par. Bulau matched teammates Hooker, Hernandez, and Lendach with eight birdies over Monday’s 36 holes. He slid from a tie for 31st after his career-low-tying first-round of even-par 71 was followed by a 4-over par 75.

As a team, WCU posted 41 total birdies on Monday, second in the field only to Chattanooga (48). The Catamounts were also second in par-4 scoring at even-par (4.00) and fourth in par-5 scoring at 4.43 (-17).

Paced by individual leader John Houlk at 13-under par 129, Chattanooga (544) leads WCU (557) and Appalachian State (562), with South Florida (564) and tournament-host Wofford (566) rounding out the Top Five.

Tournament play concludes on Tuesday morning with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

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2 – Western Carolina – 274 – 283 = 557 (-1)

2 – Adam Hooker (1) – 65 – 68 = 133 (-9)

5 – Pablo Hernandez (3) – 69 – 69 = 138 (-4)

T31 – Magnus Pedersen (2) – 70 – 73 = 143 (+1)

T31 – Josh Lendach (4) – 70 – 73 = 143 (+1)

T52 – Kiefer Bulau (5) – 71 – 75 = 146 (+4)