Temple closed out its weekend-long stay in South Carolina on a high note. Entering the day in sixth place on the leaderboard, Brandon Matthews led the Owls to a fourth-place finish and ended up on top in the individual standings with a combined mark of 10-under-par 206 for the tournament.
Matthews finished the first round of the Furman Intercollegiate Tournament even. Matthews was able to make his way under par with a stellar performance that put him 6-under. Coming into day No. 3 in third place as individual, Matthews fired a 68, and found himself 10-under on the tourney. His score was good enough to take home the trophy for best individual score.
Matthews said the key to his performance was his early approach and ability to keep himself away from difficult situations.
“I made it very easy on myself and I’m proud of the way I hung in there,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of Brandon, it was a huge win for him,” Quinn said. “In my opinion it might be the biggest win in Temple University golf history, because he was playing against such a strong field. It’s a pleasure to watch him play and compete.”
Matthews hopes his individual success will help his teammates. He said that the strong finish, which put them ahead of nationally ranked teams, made a big statement.
“This shows that we can make some noise in our performances, this was a big week for us,” Matthews said. “We can compete against the best.”
Temple shares its fourth-place position with Francis Marion University. The Owls fell two spots behind runner-up Jacksonville University. They finished one spot behind Troy, the 46th-best team in the country, for third. Virginia Tech, which came into the tourney ranked 31st in the nation and was a target for Quinn’s squad from the start, finished eighth.
Quinn was happy with the finish, but believes that there is still more to work on in the young season.
“It was a nice bounce back,” Quinn said. “The kids are shaking the rust off.”
Quinn felt like his team could have finished in second if it was not for the poor performances on the ninth hole in the second round, an issue that Matthews had pointed out the day prior.
Matt Teesdale started off the tournament strong, shooting a 71 in the opening round. After two rounds in which she shot above par, Teesdale was not completely pleased with his performance.
Next up, the Owls will compete at the Met Intercollegiate Tournament in Purchase, New York on April 4.
Matt Rego can be reached at matt.anthony.rego@temple.edu.
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