ORLANDO, Fla. – Redshirt junior
Adam Alvarez held off the opposition Tuesday to earn his first career medalist honors with a 13-under 203 final 54-hole score on the par-72 course at Champions Gate Golf Club at the Citrus Invitational. Alvarez notched the lowest 54-hole score event for the Moccasins since the 2018 score 17-under from John VanDerLaan.
"I am extremely proud of Adam for picking up his first collegiate win today," Head Coach
Lee White '12 commented. "He works hard every day in preparation for this opportunity, just so happy he was able to come out on top!"
Alvarez, a Winter Haven, Fla. native, carded a 69 (-3) for the final 18 holes to finish atop the leaderboard by one stroke over Jake Mynatt of Carson-Newman. Alvarez felt the pressure as Mynatt had a one-stroke advantage on the day with seven holes to play, -3 to -1. Alvarez birdied the eighth to push the two tied heading to the final five holes of the day.
Mynatt would bogey the 16
th to even the two daily scores at two-under before both players birdied the final hole, finishing with 69's. Mynatt's 69 would give him a 204 total while the tied round gave Alvarez a victory to cap off his fall season at 203 (-13). Alvarez used two opening rounds of 67's to get to the top of the standings while Mynatt was in third heading to Tuesday's final round with a 69 and 66 for Monday's scores.
"I've worked really hard this fall to improve after every event,"
Adam Alvarez said. "I had some good rounds and I was seeing signs of improvement from one tournament to the next. Winning means everything to me after a few close calls, and it's all a result of trusting everything I've been practicing these last three months."
Alvarez finished number two in the field of 78 in scoring average on par-3's at 2.75 (-3) and on par-4's at 3.83 (-5) while inside the top-6 in average on par-5's at 4.58 (-5). He finished with a field-best 18 birdies and had 31 pars with just five bogey's over the 54-holes.
Redshirt freshman
Tyler Mistretta climbed six spots Tuesday to finish tied for 34
th at one-over 217 with an even-par 72. Redshirt freshman
Harrison Harper tallied a final round 75 (+3) to finish in 59
th place at six-over 222.
Juniors
Bryce Walker and
Max Watson, along with senior
Johnny Tucker rounded out the Mocs in the field at the fall finale. Walker, a native of Bartow, Fla., finished in 68
th place at 227 (+11) while Watson, a native of Ashland, Ohio, finished in 72
nd place, 236 (+20). Tucker closed the list with a 76
th place in his first outing of the year with a 224 (+28) score.
No. 3 Barry captured the team title by four-strokes over No. 15 Nova Southeastern, 838 (-26).
13th - Florida Southern – 290-297 – 587 (+11)
1 –
Adam Alvarez (R-Jr., Winter Haven, Fla.) – 67-67-69 – 203 (-13)
T34 -
Tyler Mistretta (R-Fr., North Palm Beach, Fla.) – 74-71-72 – 217 (+1)
T59 - *
Harrison Harper (R-Fr., Tampa, Fla.) – 72-75-75 – 222 (+6)
T68 -
Bryce Walker (Jr., Bartow, Fla.) – 71-78-78 – 227 (+11)
T72 -
Max Watson (Jr., Ashland, Ohio) – 78-81-77 – 236 (+20)
76 -
Johnny Tucker (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) – 84-81-79 – 244 (+28)
The Mocs will return to action in the Spring on Feb. 6-7 at Lone Palm Golf Club for the Matlock Collegiate Classic.
