Junior Jimmy Stanger tied for first as the Virginia men’s golf placed second at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C. this weekend.
It was the first career first-place finish for the Tampa, Fla. native, who shot 9-under 207 in the two-day tournament — the best singular performance from a player on the team thus far this season. Stanger tied for first with South Carolina senior Matthew NeSmith.
Virginia started its two-round day Saturday with a modest 1-under 287 in its morning round, but the team made good work of the day’s second round. The Cavaliers shot 12-under 276 thanks in large part to Stanger’s 6-under 66 round, which put the Cavaliers three shots behind the Gamecocks for first place. However, the team slowed in Saturday’s round, posting 3-under 285 for a weekend total of 16-under 848 — four shots behind South Carolina, who won the tournament.
General Hackler was the second straight runner-up finish for Virginia, who also placed second at the Palmetto Intercollegiate last week, a tournament which South Carolina also won. Virginia has recorded top-five finishes in all three of its spring tournaments.
Outside of Stanger, sophomore Danny Walker placed ninth with a tournament score of 3-under 213 for his second top-ten finish of the spring season. The remaining Virginia starters — freshman Thomas Walsh, junior Derek Bard (1-over 217), senior Kyle Kochevar (8-over 224) and freshman Ashton Poole (13-over 229) — all finished outside of the top-25.
Virginia is off for a week until the Linger Longer Invitational in Lake Oconee, Ga., which begins March 20.