University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Georgetown Hoya InvitationalMembers Club at Four Streams
Townsend Wins Georgetown Hoya Invitational; Spiders Take Second
10/23/2007 | Men's Golf
Oct. 23, 2007
RESULTS | SpiderTV: TOWNSEND TALKS ABOUT HIS VICTORY 
The Spiders finished as the runner-up for the second-straight tournament after shooting a 2-under 282 Tuesday. It was their second-straight round under par, after a second-round 279, that gave Richmond a 2-over 854 (293-279-282) for the tournament. The Spiders overtook St. John's (862) for second and finished just four strokes behind tournament-winner De Paul. The Spiders trailed De Paul by nine shots entering the final round.
Townsend, a native of Glen Allen, Va., trailed Greg Doherty and Mike Ballo, Jr. by three strokes entering the final round. He carded six birdies to pull ahead of Ballo and used a birdie on the 18th to tie with Doherty at 4-under-par 209 after 54 holes. The two players both parred the first two playoff holes. Doherty bogeyed the third playoff hole and Townsend parred to win the tournament.
"This is great for Hunter, he played outstanding his last two rounds," Richmond head coach Adam Decker said. "I'm proud of the way he persevered and was able to pull it out in the playoff. That shows a lot of character for a sophomore to do that."
"I felt like I was hitting the ball really well," Townsend said. "It's nice getting paired with the two guys leading, so I could keep track of them. On the back nine, things started opening up. I was making a couple of putts, and they were making some mistakes. Then I was right there."
After starting off the year a little slow, four of Townsend's last five rounds are even-par or below.
"I've been struggling with my swing a bunch," Townsend. "The other night I was looking in the mirror in the hotel and I saw something in my set up. I made the change and I started hitting the driver a lot better the past two days."
Townsends last two rounds of 66 and 68 tie teammate Jordan Utley for the lowest two-round score to par at 8-under. He finished the tournament at 4-under-par, which is tied for third for the best three-round score in school history.
Utley, who finished third after firing a 2-under 69 Tuesday to finish the tournament at 2-under 211, was the last Spider to take home medalist honors. The senior from Richmond, Va. won the Joe Agee Invitational last fall at Stonehouse Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. Utley shot a pair of 71s in the first two rounds Monday.
Richmond junior Tim Courtney tied for eighth for his second-straight top-10 finish. The Midlothian, Va. native shot his second-straight even-par 71, after an opening round 74, to finish at 3-over 216. Sophomore Robert Lindstrom tied for 13th at 5-over 218 with rounds of 73, 71 and 74. Senior Lawrence Lessing tied for 44th at 233 (75-79-79).
"This is another great effort this week by the guys," Decker said. "We hung in there all three rounds and steadily moved our way up. I feel we are close to breaking through and getting a win."
Richmond's final tournament of the fall season is Oct. 29-30 at the ODU/Seascape Invitational at Seascape Golf Club in Kitty Hawk, N.C.
