Campbell's Jesper Svensson Wins Big South Men's Golf Championship
NINETY SIX, S.C. – Campbell golfers finished 1-through-4 in the individual standings and the Camels placed on top of the team leader board Thursday after the stroke play portion of the Big South Conference men's golf championship at The Patriot Golf Club.
Jesper Svensson (71-65-71—207) claimed the individual championship for the second time in three years and the Camels matched the league 54-hole record (-26, 838) CU set in winning the 2017 title.
Weather permitting, Campbell advances to Friday's 9:00 a.m. match play semifinal against fourth place finisher Winthrop. USC Upstate will meet Gardner-Webb at 9:05 a.m. in the other semifinal match. Winners will square off Friday afternoon in the championship match.
Pontus Nyholm (66-71-72—209) finished as individual runner-up, Brett McLamb (71-70-70—211) was third and Ray Kraivixien fourth (70-69-73—212) in the 50-golfer field. Max Theodorakis (73-70-74—217) tied for seventh in an event where only five players finished in red numbers. Gardner-Webb's Steffen Smith rounded out the top five finishers and joined the four Camels on the All-Championship Team.
The Camels' 34-stroke winning margin is the third largest in Big South Championship history. Svensson's 9-under 207 is tied for the sixth-best individual 54-hole score in league records.
After Nyholm matched his collegiate low Wednesday with a bogey-free 66 to lead the Camels to a 15-stroke first-round lead, Campbell doubled its edge Thursday morning.
Svensson carded a bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the second round and the Camels extended their advantage to 30 shots entering the final 18 holes.
The victory was the third of the year for Svensson, who also finished first at the Golfweek Program Challenge and OBX Intercollegiate. Nyholm produced his sixth top-10 finish, while McLamb earned his third top 10, Kraivixien his sixth and Theodorakis his fifth.