Men's golf earns second straight fourth place finish

Troy men’s golf finished fourth at the Irish Creek Intercollegiate, continuing its streak of solid finishes. 

Despite a good second round where they shot 6-under and sat in second heading into Tuesday, the Trojans shot 12-over in the final round and dropped to fourth as a team. Division II team Catawba won the team title over three Sun Belt Conference teams in host Appalachian State, Old Dominion and Troy. 

Pablo Gracia led the Trojans, finishing 1-under for the entire week to finish fourth individually, including a 1-under finish in the final round. Gracia finished second in pars with 41, only behind fellow Trojan Lawton Emblom, who had 42 on the week, finishing tied for 27th individually. 

Lee Poppel scored multiple birdies on Tuesday with two, good enough to shoot 4-over on the day to finish tied for 24th. Thomas Crane and Grant Yeager tied with Emblom to finish 7-over on the week. Haston Emblom tied for 36th, shooting 10-over, while Pierce Becker shot 13-over for a tie at 50th. 

This is the second straight tournament where the Trojans finished fourth after their performance at the Memphis Intercollegiate. It’s also the third straight event where Troy finished in the top half of teams, showing the Trojans are improving after a slow start to the year.  

It’s the perfect time for Troy to get hot, as it’s set to compete in the Mossy Oak Collegiate on April 13 and 14, the last tournament of the year before the Sun Belt Championship at the end of the month. The Trojans last competed in this event in 2024, where they finished 13th.