SAVANNAH, Ga. – Hunter Swidzinski battled his way to his best career finish to lead Longwood men's golf on Sunday afternoon at The Savannah Intercollegiate.
 
The sophomore withstood 30-35 mile-per-hour winds with gusts up to 50 mph to climb four spots and tie for first at The Club at Savannah Harbor.
 
That finish helped the Lancers climb up the leaderboard into a tie for third out of 18 teams.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
The Lancers tied for third with Creighton after posting a 301 on the day amid the challenging conditions. The 301 was the second-best team score in the field, and the Lancers finished with a 293-298-301—892 (+28).
 
Swidzinski climbed into a tie for first with an incredibly consistent round that saw him post one birdie and 16 pars in 18 holes. He earned his first medalist honor as a Lancer.
 
Over three rounds, he posted nine birdies to finish with a 71-72-72—215 (-1), with his final-round par seven strokes below the course average on the day.
 
Matthew Hartley climbed up nine spots into a tie for 17^th with a final-round 76. He had a trio of birdies on the day and nine birdies on the weekend. He finished with a 75-72-76—223 (+7).
 
Matthew Lyons was the team's biggest climber on the day, vaulting up 21 spots into a tie for 28^th. He shaved five strokes off his second-round score with a 74 in the final round to finish with a three-round tally of 72-79-74—225 (+9).
 
David Lafreniere finished tied for 55^th with a 76-75-79—230 (+14), and Gabriel Mainella tied for 91^st with a 75-84-80—239 (+23).
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Today was as much about survival as anything else," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "We knew going into the round that pars were going to be really good. Hunter did a fantastic job making pars today. I'm verry happy that he was able to hang in there all day. He made a few really good up and downs over the closing holes, so he definitely earned it. We knew before we came down here that we were physically way behind others' years. I'm not overly concerned with the execution mistakes we made. That will improve with more reps. Today was more of a mental and emotional grind. We were a mixed bag in those areas, so we have plenty to get back home and work on."
 
FULL SCORES:
 
1. West Georgia: 297-292-299—888 (+24)
2. Iona: 288-298-304—890 (+26)
T3. Longwood: 293-298-301—892 (+28)
T3. Creighton: 283-299-310—892 (+28)
5. Morehead State: 293-294-306—893 (+29)
6. Queens: 291-295-309—895 (+31)
T7. Sacred Heart: 288-301-310—899 (+35)
T7. Purdue Fort Wayne: 290-293-316—899 (+35)
9. Villanova: 298-299-303—900 (+36)
10. Columbia: 304-293-306—903 (+39)
11. Bradley: 289-296-319—904 (+40)
T12. Fairfield: 294-303-313—910 (+46)
T12. Colgate: 300-302-308—910 (+46)
14. Lehigh: 298-297-318—913 (+49)
15. Bowling Green: 301-301-314—916 (+52)
16. Youngstown State: 303-301-318—922 (+58)
17. IU Indy: 300-306-328—934 (+70)
18. Dartmouth: 313-307-325—945 (+81)
 
Individual
T1. Hunter Swidzinski: 71-72-72—215 (-1)
T17. Matthew Hartley: 75-72-76—223 (+7)
T28. Matthew Lyons: 72-79-74—225 (+9)
T55. David Lafreniere: 76-75-79—230 (+14)
T91. Gabriel Mainella: 75-84-80—239 (+23)
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood returns to the links on Monday, March 9 at the Surf Club Invitational at The Surf Golf and Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower