Parker Gordish Ties for 1st as Men's Golf Finishes 4th at Sandhills Flyers Invite
PINEHURST, N.C. - The Columbia College Men's Golf team competed at the Stitch Golf/Sandhills Flyers Spring Intercollegiate on Tuesday at Longleaf Golf Club in Pinehurst, NC.
The Koala men finished in 4th place at +22 over par tying with conference foe Montreat College with a score of 310. The original first round was canceled on Monday due to rain. Columbia trailed third place Sandhills CC by four strokes and runner-up Div. III Methodist Univ. (NC) by seven shots. Team champion Palm Beach State College (FL) finished an impressive +1 over 289.
Freshman Parker Gordish led the Koala men individually and the whole tournament at -2 under par 70 after his round and went on to finish in a tie for 1st place overall in the individual standings with Palm Beach's Carter Brooks, who birdied the 18th to tie Gordish. However, Gordish fell in a sudden death playoff to decide the individual medalist as he became the runner-up. Gordish led the tournament by making seven birdies in his round as well including shooting a -3 under par 32 on the front nine holes.
Freshman Brandon Russ played well too as he came in 14th place at +5 over 77 with two birdies. Also playing for the Koalas was sophomore Jaxon Mock as he shot +10 over 82 during his round to finish tied for 41st while sophomore Josh Brown finished 36th at +9 over 81.
Columbia's B team was competing as well and finished in 10th place out of 11 schools at +41 over par 329. The second Koala team was led by Zach Mock finishing in 14th place at +5 over 77 while sophomore Christian "Reese" Hadley then finished in a tie for 36th place at +9 over 81. Seniors Daniel Freese and Owen Talbot have each finished their rounds at +13 over 85 to place 47th while sophomore Gavin Ratliff came in 51st place at +14 over 86. Freshman Jackson Arseneau also finished in 52nd place at +15 over 87.
Individually, freshman Tanner Caldwell and sophomore Stephen Swenson finished 59th and 60th after shooting +29 and +31.
The Koala men will finally return home to host their annual Koala Classic 2026 on March 23-24 at Timberlake Country Club in Chapin, SC. They will tee off next Monday morning between 9:00-10:00 AM.
P. Gordish pictured below with his runner-up trophy:
