ESTERO, Fla. – Freshman Nolan Harper won the Old Corkscrew Intercollegiate Tuesday by four strokes for the Florida Gulf Coast University men's golf team.
Harper entered the day tied for first atop the leaderboard alongside Florida Atlantic's Guilerhme Grinberg at five-under-par. The freshman immediately separated himself with a birdie on 16, his first hole of the final day. Through his first six holes Tuesday, he was two-under-par.
He extended the gap to five shots with some help, but trouble hit when Harper scratched in bogeys on back-to-back holes, six and seven. Harper bogeyed again on eight. Harper then sank three straight birdies on his back-nine, 12, 13, and 14 to seal the deal. His final tee shot nearly found the water hazard, but he was still able to save par on the hole. He birdied three of his four final holes, finishing at seven-under for the tournament.
Harper recorded a team-best, three-under 69 during Monday's opening round and followed that up with a pair of 70s to clinch the individual tournament crown for FGCU. Harper's best finish coming into the Old Corkscrew was a fourth-place effort last week at The Johnnie-O at Sea Island. Harper has not finished lower than eighth during his last three events played.
Florida Atlantic's NaShawn Tyson closed at three-under for the runner-up spot. Grinberg, who came into the day tied with Harper atop the leaderboard, shot a 77 and fell to fifth at even par.
As a team, FGCU placed second at seven-over. Florida Atlantic held on to win the team title at four-over, shooting 10-over during the final round. Florida Atlantic grabbed a nine-stroke advantage over third-place FGCU to wrap up Monday's action. FGCU jumped Troy for second.
The Eagles' regular season finale is set for April 14-15 in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial, hosted by the University of Virginia.
