SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Columbia men's golf team entered Sunday's final round of The Savannah Intercollegiate with an 11-shot lead and rode that to victory, winning their season-opening tournament with a 54-hole score of 8-under-par 856. The two-day tournament was contested at The Club at Savannah Harbor.
 
This is Columbia's second tournament title of the 2022-23 academic year — they hosted and won the Columbia Autumn Invitational in October. Leading George Washington by 11 shots at the start of the day, the Lions fired a final-round even-par 288 to best the 15-team field.
 
"I'm incredibly pleased to be able to start off the spring this way," Director of Golf Rich Mueller said. "We've literally been on grass three times from the moment we started practice until our first tournament. It just says a lot about how focused the guys are and how dedicated they are to winning and sticking to the process. It's pretty remarkable."
 
Three Lions finished inside the top five on the individual leaderboard, led by junior Nathan Han at 5 under par. Han entered the day tied for third and used a final-round 2-under 70 to claim his third top-five and fifth top-10 in as many tournaments this academic year.
 
Wyatt McGovern climbed from sixth into fourth with a final round 1-under 71 to finish the tournament at 3 under par. His fourth-place finish is the best of his collegiate career. McGovern's 54-hole total (213) is also a collegiate best.
 
DJ Francey tied for fifth with a tournament total of 2-under-par 214. Francey, the 36-hole co-leader, battled to post a final round of 2-over 74 that included one birdie and three bogeys. The top five is the first of Francey's collegiate career.
 
Pat Healy also had a strong weekend and finished tied for 14th at 3-over-par 219. He did well to bounce back from an opening-round 76 on Saturday with a second-round 2-under 70. His Sunday round of 73 included two birdies and three bogeys, including a birdie at his second-to-last hole, the par-4 first, to get him back to 1-over on the round.
 
"Good experience to hang on and maintain the lead," Mueller added. "All of those are really positive ways to start the season. I'm really pleased with the way all of them managed this tournament and the golf course. We led the field in pars by 15, which just shows how dedicated to the strategy they were."
 
Darren Pang (+11) also competed in the team event and finished tied for 47th in the 90-man field.
 
The Lions compete again next month, March 13-14, at the GCU Invitational, hosted by Grand Canyon University at the GCU Golf Course in Phoenix.
 
For the latest on Columbia men's golf, follow @CULionsMGolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.