SNOW HILL, North Carolina. – The University of Mount Olive men’s golf team maintained their lead but saw a historic playoff before earning the 2021 Conference Carolinas Men’s Golf Championship Tuesday afternoon in Snow Hill, N.C, the first championship for the Trojans in school history.
Tournament Information
Score: Mount Olive (282-287-288-857)
Field: 9 teams| 45 Golfers
Location: Cutter Creek Country Club, Par 72 6,994 yards – Snow Hill, N.C.
Olle Ryberg 69 70 74 213 t-7/45 Golfers
Brice Ballin 68 79 70 217 t-11th
Cade Hancock 72 73 72 217 t-11th
Patrick Schweitz 74 73 72 219 t-15th
Ruben van der Berg 73 71 75 219 t-15th
Total 282 287 288 857 1st/9 Teams
Olle Ryberg led the pack for UMO with a 213 for the tournament and two birdies in the final round to finish t-7 and earn a spot on the Conference Carolinas All-Tournament team for the second year in a row.
Ballin bounced back from a rough second round to finish two under on the day and t-11 for the tournament.
Hancock dropped down a spot on the leaderboard and finished t-11, however the sophomore had the biggest impact on the team later in the day.
Patrick Schweitz (72) and van der Berg (75) tied for 15th as the final scores came in the Trojans became tied with North Greenville at 857 and forced a playoff between two schools to determine the overall winner.
The playoff was unique in that in no playoff has been needed in at least 20 years of competition. The format for the playoff was stroke play, five vs. five, with the top four scores counting. The 10 golfers were split up over two groups and began play on the No.1 par 4.
As the first group came up to the green, Cade Hancock had a chance to put UMO in the lead with a birdie putt. The sophomore from Elizabethtown, N.C. sank his attempt and put the Trojans one-under.
The following group came up and after NGU failed to shoot under par it was up to Patrick Schweitz to seal the win with a par putt and the Graduate Student did just that giving UMO their first-ever Conference Carolinas Championship in program history.
“I’m just so proud of these guys. They played with a maturity and effort that was outstanding!! Without the support they had at the course each day, I don’t know if we would have pulled it out. It was amazing,” said Head Coach Chip Spiron.
UMO, with the championship, earns an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Southeast Regional. The selection show for men’s golf is April 23 on NCAA.com.
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