PINEHURST, NC/SEVEN LAKES, NC – The University of Rochester golf team finished off a strong two days at a pair of events hosted by Hampden-Sydney College on Monday afternoon during its spring break trip in North Carolina.
 
Rochester's 'A' squad was competing at the Tiger Invite at Forest Creek and made a huge vault up the leaderboard, improving by 22 shots on day two, going from 15th to its finishing position of fifth place in the 18-team field to score 598 over the two days.
 
UR's day two score was an even-par round of 288, tying for best in the field over the two days and ranking inside the top-10 single-round scores in team history.
 
The leader on Monday was sophomore Josh Pethel who fired a career-best round of 3-under, 69 over the par-72, 6,925-yard layout at Forest Creek Golf Club. Pethel's scorecard on day two was terrific, featuring five birdies and only two bogeys. His birdies all came towards the end of his round, over the final eight holes. That included a stretch of three straight from holes six through eight (his 11th-13th holes of the day). Pethel's strong round moved him up to finish in a tie for 20th overall.
 
First-year Shibo Wang led UR for the overall tournament, ranking tied for 16th in the field with a two day total of 148. Wang carded an eagle on the par-5 third hole and added two birdies on day two, finishing at 73 (+1) on Monday.
 
Senior Tom Liu also rebounded well on Monday, firing a 1-under round of 71. His scorecard featured three birdies on holes six through nine and moved up 32 total spots on the individual leaderboard on Monday. He finished in a tie for 50th overall with a 154 score.
 
Graduate student Brendan Frain was Rochester's leader after day one and ended in a tie for 28th place overall with a 151 score over the two days. He finished the tournament by carding a 77 in the final round.
 
Senior Kerry Wang was Rochester's other golfer in the event, with his final round of 75 contributing towards the UR team score on Monday. Wang ended with a 156 score over the two rounds, tying for 56th in the field.
 
Across town, UR's remaining five golfers on the roster made up a Yellowjacket 'B' squad competing at the Hampden-Sydney Invite at Seven Lakes. In that event, UR placed fourth among 11 teams, carding a team score of 637 for the two rounds. Rochester compiled a 322 score on day two.
 
Junior Gary Pan led the way for the 'Jackets, ending as tournament runner-up among 68 golfers in the field after shooing a grand total of 151 for the event. He shot a 3-over par round of 74 on Monday across the par-71, 6,561 yard layout at Seven Lakes Country Club. Pan finished his round with back-to-back birdies on his final two holes to move into the runner-up position on the individual leaderboard.
 
Teammate Jonathan Zou also secured a top-10 finish individually after shooting a 79 (+8) on Monday, ending with a 156 score over the two days.
 
First-year Arjun Aujla carded an 84 in the final round and finished in a tie for 31st with a 164 total. Both Marshall Kim (T-36th, 166) and Jeffrey Li (T-50th, 171) shot rounds of 85 on Monday to tie for the fourth counting score for UR's 'B' squad.
 
Rochester will get a week off next week before returning down south to compete at the Jekyll Island Invitational from March 22-24.