WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Justin LaRue started hot and never looked back to win the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate on Tuesday afternoon.
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He was on another level, firing below-par rounds all three days en route to a commanding seven-stroke win on the Par 71, 6,817-yard course.
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The junior carded the best three-round raw score in team history in the process. His 54-hole total of 203 was the lowest three-round score ever, besting Nick Contini's 204 in 2016 and Jordan Boulton's 204 in 2017.
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For LaRue, it was a chance that has felt like a long time in coming all season, as he has finished in the top seven in seven tournaments. Three weeks ago, he finished second at the Daytona Beach Invitational.
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"This tournament felt special because I was finally able to break through after being so close so many times," LaRue said. "The past two days I stuck to my routine and kept myself only in the present. Everything that I've worked hard for I let happen on the course."
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Now, he has his first outright win in a team event. He shared the title at the Big Blue Intercollegiate almost one season ago, but he left no doubt about this one.
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Coming into the third and final day, LaRue led by three strokes, and he was surgical with a three-under 68 in his final round to extend the lead to seven. He finished 68-67-68—203 (-10). His 10-under line was the second-best relative-to-par score in team history, behind only Contini's 12-under in 2016 referenced above.
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"As he's been all year, Justin was great again," said Longwood Head Coach
Kevin Fillman. "It's difficult to justly put into words how good he's been every single week."
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His finish helped the Lancers finish third out of 12 teams at the event, the team's third straight top three finish. All three of those results have come in the spring.
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"It seemed that we got started well enough and did a lot of things we wanted to do early, but, for some reason, we lost that momentum midway through the round and never recovered," Fillman said. "It's certainly something we're going to have to get corrected."
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Meanwhile, the low round of the entire tournament went to
Zane Moore, who was playing as an individual. Moore posted a 66 to vault up 22 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for ninth. It was his second career top-10 finish.
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"It was also good to see Zane get it going today," Fillman added. "It's getting to be the right time of year for him or any number of our other guys to step up and give us the push we need into April and, hopefully, May."
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Moore carded six birdies and 11 pars en route to his 5-under day. The 66 tied for the team's lowest round of the season by raw score and was tied for second relative to par. He finished the weekend 76-74-66—216 (+3) for his best position finish in a 54-hole event.
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Scott Jordan tied for 14
th with a final round score of 73-72-73—218 (+5), and he tied for the tournament lead with a six-under score on Par 5s.
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Nick Rakes tied for 18
th with a three-round score of 71-75-74—220 (+7). Rakes tied for third in the 77-player field with 37 pars.
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Logan Hooper moved up nine spots into a tie for 56
th with a 81-78-75—234 (+21), and
Willie Hoover finished tied for 58
th with a 81-73-81—235 (+22).
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The Lancers are back in action again on April 8-9 at the Irish Intercollegiate, hosted by Appalachian State at The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
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#GoWood #HorsePower
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