Trojans' Simpson cards hole-in-one

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 29, 2010 1:47 PM

• Print
• Email

Average all the way around.

That simple sentence tells the story of the inaugural Century Link Golf Invitational for co-host Mount Olive College on Tuesday afternoon at Lane Tree Golf Club.

The Trojans' "A" team finished sixth in a field of 10 teams. Mount Olive carded a four-player total of 603 for the 36-hole event.

"It's kind of frustrating to be honest," said MOC head coach Chip Spiron. "We were on our home course and we didn't really have any one guy step up. We had a lot of guys in the middle, but nothing great."

Kyle Ham led the "A" team with a 149 total.

Kyle Simpson paced the Mount Olive "B" team with the same 149 mark. Simpson delivered the Trojans' highlight of the meet with a hole-in-one on the par-3, 16th hole.

Simpson belted a 4-iron from 223 yards out and watched as the ball tracked the pin.

"Playing with such good players, you get to see a lot of guys hit the ball close," said Simpson. "I saw it hit the green and it looked good so I yelled 'go in!' and I was amazed when it did. I was so shocked that I left my club on the tee box."

Simpson played on the "B" team after finishing just outside the top six during team qualifying last week.

The "A" squad was a mixed bag of middle-of-the-pack scores for Spiron. Mark O'Hara fired a 151, Scott Woodard added a 152 and Fabrizio Ceppi carded a 154. The Mount Olive "B" team had scores of 153 by Martin Brekko and 157 from Eric Williams. Steven Aster and David Shields each finished with 159.

Mount Olive also had four players who competed as individuals. Oscar Santamarina finished with a 152 total, Dalton Gore shot 155, Clark Rose added a 160 and Will Shearin finished with a 167.

The team competition was captured by Cape Fear Community College with a 578 total. Tournament co-host Barton College finished second with a 582.

After first-round play was rained out on Monday, several players took advantage of the soft-scoring conditions.

East Carolina's Zach Edmondson won individual medalist honors with a 5-under par 139. Cape Fear's Colby Averitte and Post College's David McGregor tied for second place with a 141 total.

Mount Olive returns to action Oct. 18-19 at the Belmont Abbey Invitational played at Tanglewood Country Club.

"We need to use the next month to evaluate where we are and see who are going to be our five best players when Tanglewood comes around," said Spiron. "We play our conference championship match there so it will be a good test for our guys."