GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's golf program put an emphatic stamp on the excellent fall season with the team's second win of the semester, topping the 18-team field at the O'Briant Jensen Memorial by eight strokes. The Captains finished Even par as a team after firing a one-under 283 as a group to cruise to the win over No. 2 Methodist University by eight strokes. 

Two Captains finished in the top-ten on the individual leaderboard and three CNU players finished the second round at the event under par. Senior Robb Kinder fired a career-best four-under 67 on Tuesday to lead an impressive overall team performance at The Cardinal by Pete Dye in Greensboro, N.C. as he was joined by classmate Alex Price and junior Aidan Baron with under par rounds. 

The 283 showing was the first time since April 6, 2019 that three or more CNU golfers finished under par in the same round. In that tournament, the Captains scored a 275 at the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate when Davis Topping, David Rabil, and Kevin Quinto all fired sub-70 scorecards.

This week, it was all CNU at The Cardinal, as Christopher Newport held a first-round lead and carried that dominance into the second round with two of only three total rounds scored under 290 in the event. The Captains led the field in Par 3 scoring (3.15), ranked second in Par 5 scoring (4.63) and tied for third in Par 4 scoring (4.24) with a well-rounded showing. The Captains finished one-under par, tying for the fifth-best individual round in relation to par in program history. 

For the tournament, the Captains shattered the previous 36-hole low tournament score (total score) by seven strokes. It marks only the third time in program history the Captains have finished an event at Par or better for an entire tournament as a team and the second ever in a multi-round tournament. CNU bested the previous 36-hole mark in relation to par by one stroke, re-setting a record that has stood since October 14, 2001 when the Captains were one-over par at the VSGA Championship. 

On the individual scorecards, Kinder was on fire Tuesday and blitzed nearly 50 spots up the individual leaderboard with a four-under 67. The New Kent, Va. native sank two Eagles, including dropping one in from the fairway on the 427-yard Par 4 fourteenth late in the round. Powered by that and three more birdies, Kinder finished four-under on his last six holes of the tournament to tie for 17th overall with a 147 (80-67). 

The CNU veteran added an Eagle three on the 542-yard Par 5 fourth while sinking seven pars on the front as well. It stands as the finest round of the year and a top-ten single round performance all-time in CNU Men's Golf history. It also stands as the fourth-best round by a senior and the finest individual performance by a fourth-year player since October 18, 2011 when CNU Hall of Famer Joseph Evans fired a 66 in the Oglethorpe Invitational. 

While Kinder was going low, junior teammate Aidan Baron collected his second career top-ten finish after finishing ninth with a one-over par 143 (74-69). Like Kinder, Baron also set a personal low with his two-under second round with a 69. The third-year player birdied three of his first six holes and added one more under par hole on the back.

Alex Price (-4) finished a team-best third place on the individual leaderboard. After a strong opening round performance with a 68, Price added another round under par with a 70 on day two. His 138 (68-70) ranks tied for fourth all-time in a 36-hole tournament in total strokes and tied for fifth in relation to par. Dominant on the long holes this week, Price led the 102-player field with a 3.83 average on Par 5's, firing a -7 with five birdies and an eagle on the six total holes. 

Rookie Austin Smith tied for 20th at six-over par with another very clean round. After just one hole over par on Monday, Smith only had three on Tuesday while adding 15 pars for the second straight day. He led the tournament with 30 pars in 36 holes played and scored for the Captains on Tuesday with a six-over 77. 

Jack Gessman also finished in the top-half of the tournament with a 13-over 155 (72-83) and tied Baron and Kinder with 20 pars in the two-day event. 

Christopher Newport will close the book on a successful fall season with two wins and a third top-five performance in four tournaments played. The Captains, ranked No. 5 in the Bushnell/Golfweek Top 25 poll and No. 7 in the GolfStat Team Rankings, will next play on March 5-7 at the Savannah Invitational.