Rocky Mount, N.C. - N.C. Wesleyan's golf team hosted its annual Don Scalf Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at Rocky Mount's par-72 Northgreen Country Club. With a pair of 295 team rounds, the Bishops took top honors, led by freshman Mariano Silvestri's 1st-place finish. Silvestri carded rounds of 70 and 76 to finish at +2 in the two-day event.
Wesleyan players grabbed four of the top five spots. Alexander Kidd shot a 70 in the final round to finish just one stroke behind Silvestri in 2nd-place at 3-over, while fellow sophomore Grady Anderson's rounds of 75 and 73 were just two strokes off the medalist's pace at 4-over. Playing his final Don Scalf tourney, senior Matthew May turned in a career-best 5th-place finish in the event, carding rounds of 76 and 73 (+5).
Junior David White continued Wesleyan's solid string of finishes at +6 (74-76), tying for 6th-place, and freshman Tucker Mooring was 12th overall at +12 (74-82). Rounding out NCWC's field were John Thornton, Pearce Parsons, and Dustin Wood. Thornton tied for 13th, just one stroke behind Mooring, while Parsons and Wood finished in the top-25.
This year's invitational field featured 37 golfers among six teams. Chowan University turned in a runner-up finish with two-day team score of 617 (312-305)... 27 strokes behing the Bishops. Johnston and Sandhills Community Colleges were third and fourth, with William Peace University finishing fifth. Mid-Atlantic Christian failed to tally a team score after failing to finish four golfers in the final round.
Wesleyan's annual tournament is named in honor of Don Scalf, an icon of Battling Bishop athletics who taught for 36 years, coached for 18 years, and served as Athletics Director for six years at NCWC. During his coaching career, Scalf's teams won Conference championships in basketball (1966) and golf (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973), earning him Conference Coach of the Year honors on four occasions.
Next up for the Bishops is the Chick-Fil-A Intercollegiate hosted by Berry College in Rome, Georgia. The two-day event is set for October 17th and 18th at Stonebridge Golf Club.