West Virginia golfer Max Green hitting stride in junior season
By Joseph Smith
West Virginia junior Max Green is quite the competitor.
He entered the final day of competition at The Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga. sitting in twelfth-place overall. Facing that sort of climb to the top of the leaderboard, many athletes would struggle to find the mental space to close the tournament strong. But that’s not who Green is.
Instead, he came out and shot five-under-par in the third round at The Schenkel to vault himself into a tie for second-place to finish the tournament, marking the second consecutive tournament in which he’s earned a top-three finish. His performance also boosted the WVU from tenth-overall to eight-overall as a team in the tournament standings, as he helped lead the team to the lowest overall team score on the final day of play.
"I'm very proud of the guys this week, especially today," WVU Head Coach Sean Covich said after the final round. "Having the low round on Sunday shows what we are capable of. Max Green is playing some great golf. He's really establishing himself as an elite player.”
The tournament is not Green’s first big finish of his junior year -- he started things off strong during the fall season as he captured his second-ever collegiate tournament win in an 83-man field at the Red Bandanna Invitational in Verona, NY.
More recently, Green also closed out the month of February strong as he shot 12-under par in 36 holes at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico -- he posted a pair of career-low performances at the event, shooting 66 in both rounds of action.
“I'm proud of Max Green,” Covich said after the third-round of play at Dorado Beach was rained out. “His back nine yesterday was impressive and put him in position to win yet another tournament.”
Green and the Mountaineers will next hit the links at The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Charleston, S.C. -- the tournament is set to run from Sunday, March 24 - Tuesday, March 26. Golfers will tee-off for the opening round starting at 8 AM.