Rutgers men’s golf made a serious run on Monday, and it came at exactly the right time. The No. 43 Scarlet Knights blistered Quail Valley Golf Club with a 17-under 271 in the final round of the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, the best team score of the tournament, and vaulted from 11th place to sixth in the 15-team field in Vero Beach, Fla.
The finish left Rutgers at 6-under 858 after rounds of 298, 289 and 271. The turnaround was dramatic: the Scarlet Knights started the day 16 shots back and still managed to close within two strokes of a top-three finish.
The final round was built on birdies, and Rutgers piled up 27 of them. Sophomore Lucas Politano set the pace with seven birdies and a 6-under 66, which tied for the second-lowest round of the day. He surged 24 spots on the leaderboard to tie for 11th at 3-under 213 after opening with rounds of 75 and 72.
Sophomore Argyle Downes also came in hot, posting a 4-under 68 with six birdies to tie for 18th at 2-under 214. Junior Bennett Espenshade matched that six-birdie total, with five of them coming on the back nine, where he went 31. His 3-under 69 left him tied for 22nd at 1-under 215.
Grad student T.J. Thompson added another 68 and climbed 20 places into a tie for 26th at even-par 216. Rutgers’ four counting scores in the final round were all 69 or better, which tells the story of how clean the close was.
Competing as an individual, freshman Carlo Melgrati also finished strong. He eagled No. 10 on the way to a final-round 68 and finished at even-par 216.
Minnesota won the team title at 17-under 847, finishing five strokes ahead of No. 19 Kansas. Memphis’ Yixiang Wang earned medalist honors at 11-under 205.
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