WCU Men’s Golf 16th Headed to Final Round at Badger Invitational

Western Carolina men’s golf knocked six strokes off its opening round score but slipped to 16th after Monday’s second round at the 2023 Badger Invitational with a two-round score of 593. Upperclassmen Magnus Pedersen in a tie for 27th and Pablo Hernandez in 36th pace the Catamount scoring five through 36 holes.

Pedersen and Hernandez both posted second-round scores of 1-over par-73 on Monday. Pedersen countered six bogeys with five birdies, sliding six positions in round two. Hernandez posted a much quieter second round with three bogeys against two birdies for his 1-over par round, slipping into a tie for 36th overall.

Rounding out WCU’s scoring five is sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic, up four spots into a tie for 65th after trimming four strokes off his second 18 holes, shooting 73 for a two-day total of 150. Freshman Andrew Korytoski moved up two spots into a tie for 75th after carding a 75 on Monday, while classmate Dalton Payne is 90th at 164 (81-83).

First-round team leader Florida Gulf Coast continues to pace the field after two rounds, though its lead has been reduced to five strokes over second-place Nebraska, 560-to-565. Middle Tennessee sits in third, six strokes off the pace at 566, with VCU (568) and Illinois State (571) rounding out the top five.

VCU’s Veikka Viskari followed an opening-round 4-under par 68 with a 3-under par 69 in the second round to move atop the individual leaderboard by one stroke over runner-up Zach Little of Central Arkansas, 137-to-138.

Action concludes in the team tournament on Tuesday with the third round of the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin. Live scoring through Leaderboard King is available online.

In the individual-only tournament at TPC Wisconsin, WCU freshman Jace Butcher came home in a tie for 16th with a three-round score of 228. He matched his second-round 4-over par 75 with an identical final round on Tuesday, countering three bogeys and one double-bogey with a birdie.

Thomas Salanito of FGCU won the Badger Invitational by a stroke over a two-way tie for second between Will Troy of Illinois State and Marquette’s Mason Schmidtke, 211-to-212.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).

2023 Badger Invitational (Par-72)

16 – Western Carolina – 299 – 293 = 593 (+17)

T27 – Magnus Pedersen – 71 – 73 = 144 (E)

T36 – Pablo Hernandez – 72 – 73 = 145 (+1)

T65 – Ivan Ninkovic – 77 – 73 = 150 (+6)

T75 – Andrew Korytoski – 79 – 75 = 154 (+10)

90 – Dalton Payne – 81—83 = 164 (+20)

2023 Badger Individual (Par-71)

T16 – Jace Butcher – 78 – 75 – 75 = 228 (+15)