Ekert Sets Richmond Scoring Record at VCU Shootout

Monday, September 18

Richmond, VA

8:30 AM

University of Richmond

VCU Shootout

09/19/2023 | Men's Golf

Results

RICHMOND, Va. — Junior Cole Ekert shot a 3-under 69 in the final round of the VCU Shootout Tuesday to finish the event at 13-under par, the lowest 54-hole tournament score in Richmond program history. Ekert, who offset a late double bogey with five birdies in Round 3, eclipsed the previous record of 12-under par, set by Daniel Walker at the 2013 NCAA Regional in Tallahassee, Fla.

"It was in the back of my mind. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't," admitted Ekert following the event. "I didn't know what the number was, but after being 10 down after the first day I was like 'I feel like it's got to be between 10 and 15.' So I wanted to go and shoot a good score and see what happens — you never know. I was trying to win the event, first and foremost, but [the record] is cool. It's really cool."

Ekert tied for second among the 84 players in the field, finishing three strokes behind medalist Daniel Cheng of JMU. It's the third top-two finish of his career, along with last year's RedHawk Intercollegiate (1st) and Wexford Intercollegiate (2nd).

"He's just so steady," said Coach Adam Decker of Ekert. "He just doesn't make mistakes. And when he does, he doesn't follow up a bad shot or a bad decision with another one. Once he gets some putts rolling in, he's not thinking about going low. He's just trying to get one more, then one more, then one more. I don't think he gets ahead of himself. He stays present and does a good job of being committed and right in the moment."

Ekert was the only Spider to shoot under par Tuesday, as the team fell off its Monday pace, when UR recorded the second (13-under in Round 1) and 11th-best (8-under in Round 2) scores in program history. Richmond finished the event tied for sixth place at 19-under par (845) after being within two shots of the lead midway through Tuesday's final round.

"We are super close. We're very competitive with some of the best teams in the conference, so that's encouraging," said Decker, after UR finished four shots behind A-10 opponents Davidson and VCU, who have combined to win the last five A-10 championships. "I'm super proud of the guys the way they came out and made a ton of birdies and limited the mistakes. it would have been nice to finish a little stronger, but I'm certainly keeping it in perspective that I think we're in a good spot to be competitive the rest of the year."

Junior Patrick Isztwan tied for 19th at 5-under par (211), securing the lowest tournament score of his career and his first top-20 finish. Grad student Lou Baker finished at even par (216), tied for 44th, while sophomore Drew Carlin was three shots behind in a tie for 57th.

Freshman Owen Pearce didn't place on the individual leaderboard after he was penalized for signing an incorrect scorecard in Round 2. He shot a 3-over 75 in Round 3 Tuesday after carding a 1-under 71 in Round 1 Monday, giving every Spider in the event at least one round under par.

"You can put anybody in the lineup right now and you know they have the capability of going out there and shooting five or six under. It's good to see. You need to go low in a lot of college events to win. We certainly have that checked off," said Ekert. "We just need to be able to play a complete 54 holes. It's still early in the season. It's not like our tournament stamina is 100 percent there yet."

Richmond will return to action October 15-16 at the Georgetown Intercollegiate in Rockville, Md.

"Definitely relax for the rest this week," said Ekert of his upcoming plans. "We've been all going pretty hard the last two weeks with a tournament, then qualifying, and then another tournament. So maybe some light practice this week and get back after it a week from now."