HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Charleston Southern men's golf team carded its best round of the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate Tuesday, continuing its ascent up the overall leaderboard, to conclude play at the season-opening event in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

WILLIS GOES UNDER PAR
Leading the way for the Buccaneers was Ethan Willis, who posted a final-round 71 to finish at 3-over par 219. He tied for 15th among the 90 individuals after posting five birdies during his last-18 holes. He dropped in his birdies on the first nine holes he played on the par-4, 441-yard No. 12; par-4, 382-yard No. 14 and the par-4, 415-yard No. 16. After making the turn to the No. 1 hole, he added two more on consecutive holes: on the par-3, 165-yard No. 6 and the par-4, 360-yard No. 7, helping secure the under-par overall score.

LOUDIN NEXT IN
The next-best round of the day to come into the clubhouse for Charleston Southern was Caleb Loudin with a 1-over par 73, helping him tie for 70th overall with an 81-78-73—232 (+16). The senior put together a birdie on his third hole, No. 14, in the midst of a stretch featuring four pars in five holes. He added another span of five-consecutive pars from No. 3-7 before dropping in another birdie on the par-5, 543-yard No. 8. He parred the next two holes to stay near Even and closed his day with one last birdie on his final hole, the par-5, 555-yard No. 11. He ended the tournament by recording a birdie in all three rounds on No. 8.

CARROLL ADDS THREE MORE BIRDIES
The third score to count for CSU Tuesday was Ben Carroll, as he inked a 77-74-76—227 (+11) to tie for 51st on the individual leaderboard. Carroll's final round consisted of three more birdies, including two on par 3s and another on a par 5. He dropped in the birdies on the par-3, 200-yard No. 13; No. 6 and No. 8. Carroll mixed in nine pars during his final-18 holes, the longest stretch coming from No. 1 through No. 3 after he made the turn.

OTHERS FINISH NECK-AND-NECK
The last two individuals for the Buccaneers were Griffin Tarver and Colin Trahan, who finished just one stroke apart on the day. Although Trahan got the better of his teammate by one Tuesday, Tarver notched the overall better score with a 77-77-79—233 (+17), finishing 73rd, while Trahan tallied an 83-78-78—239 (+23) to tie for 79th.

Tarver's day featured birdies on No. 3 and No. 8 to go along with nine pars, including four-in-a-row from No. 16 through No. 1, while Trahan also collected two birdies, on No. 14 and the par-4, 387-yard No. 9, mixed in with nine pars as well. His best span of Even par scores came on No. 1 through No. 3.

UP NEXT
Charleston Southern will head back out on the links in two weeks when it travels to Aiken for the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, an event play hosted by USC Aiken.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN INDIVIDUALS
T15. Ethan Willis, +3 (73-75-71—219)
T51. Ben Carroll, +11 (77-74-76—227)
T70. Caleb Loudin, +16 (81-78-73—232)
73. Griffin Tarver, +17 (77-77-79—233)
T79. Colin Trahan, +23 (83-78-78—239)

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Francis Marion, +2 (289-294-283—866)
2. Furman, +3 (295-284-288—867)
3. Augusta, +6 (292-293-285—870)
T4. East Carolina, +7 (296-287-288—871)
T4. Mercer, +7 (292-283-297—871)
6. USC Aiken, +10 (298-293-283—874)
7. Radford, +17 (302-295-284—881)
8. Temple, +23 (296-299-292—887)
T9. Dayton, +25 (303-294-292—889)
T9. Western Carolina, +25 (296-303-290—889)
11. Presbyterian, +26 (298-296-296—890)
12. Eastern Michigan, +39 (301-303-299—903)
13. Charleston Southern, +46 (308-304-298—910)
14. Winthrop, +51 (306-306-303—915)
15. Gardner-Webb, +53 (298-302-317—917)
16. Cleveland State, +56 (309-306-305—920)
17. Ohio, +80 (323-316-305—944)