GREENSBORO, N.C. — Averett University men's golf sophomore Max Pettersson holding on for his first career victory Tuesday wasn't shocking. The 19th-ranked Cougars' 19-stroke swing to go from 12 strokes down to a seven-stroke win on the final day to win the O'Briant-Jensen Memorial, however, made it a day to remember.

"It felt great," Pettersson said. "I didn't really expect it when we teed off today, but we played really good today. It means so much for everyone."

Averett shot a collective 3-under-par 281 during Tuesday's final round at The Cardinal by Pete Dye to seal its first team win since September 2019. The Cougars finished the O'Briant-Jensen Memorial at 15-over, edging Methodist University's B Team by seven strokes and the University of Lynchburg by eight strokes in the 18-team field.

As Averett thrived on the final day as a team, Pettersson continued his role as Mr. Consistent. After shooting a 3-under 68 during the opening round Monday, he followed that up with another 3-under 68 Tuesday to finish 6-under for a five-stroke victory over Christopher Newport University's Aidan Baron in the field of 108 golfers. For Pettersson, who finished fourth in last spring's NCAA Division III National Championships, it was his first win and best career finish.

"It means a lot," Pettersson said. "I've been striving for this for such a long time. I came here to win, so it feels amazing."

Averett was in sixth place after Monday's first round, but the Cougars didn't play to their potential outside of maybe Pettersson and graduate student Caleb Kimbrough, who shot 3-over on the first day.
"We didn't have our best yesterday, but we had a good conversation last night in the van," Averett Director of Golf Ben Potter said. "The guys responded to it today and that's all on them."

Freshman John Keba recovered from an opening round 82 to shoot the lowest round of the day Tuesday with a 4-under 67 to finish tied for 20th. Kimbrough improved his second round by one stroke to earn a 13th-place finish. Sophomore Miguel Rodriguez Lamana, who had the worst score for Averett with an 89 on Monday, came through with a 2-over 73 during the final round to aid Averett's cause. Junior Killian O'Reilly added a 6-over 78 for the second day in a row to round out the lineup for the Cougars.

"I think everybody bounced back today," Potter said. "Keba with an 82 yesterday and a 67 today. I think some of that is being a freshman. This golf course isn't easy, and if you're not in it mentally it can get you down sometimes. We had a good conversation last night and he came back and did what he knows he can do and stuck to his game plan and executed all his shots. Same thing with Miguel. He had a really tough day yesterday and it would have been easy for him to pack it in this morning, but he backed it up with a 73, which was a huge fourth score for us."

Potter said one of the keys to their victory was how the Cougars played the final four holes on the par-71, 6,735-yard course. Those four holes are among the toughest stretch on the course, and Averett's has had a history of those holes giving the Cougars a fit in past trips to that same event hosted by Guilford College.

"We played it a 1-over today and that's one of the reasons we're standing here with a trophy," Potter said.

Averett had to wait about an hour after finishing to see if its team score would hold up as Methodist and Lynchburg completed their round. What was a three-stroke lead at the time the Cougars' round ended only increased as the Monarchs and Hornets faltered.

"This is what we've been working toward," Potter said. "They did what they were supposed to do and now we get to reap the benefits of our first team win since the fall of 2019. It was a great field down here — it always is. I'm excited that we get to walk out of here with a trophy."

Averett's last team win came at N.C. Wesleyan University's Don Scalf Memorial in September 2019 during Potter's first season as head coach. Averett's last medalist honor in A Team competition was Kimbrough's win at the Golfweek Division III Fall Invitational in October 2021, and it was the first medalist honor for any Cougar since O'Reilly won in a B Team event at the Virginia Wesleyan University Marlin Invitational in March 2022.

The last time Averett won both the team and individual trophy in the same tournament was in March 2019 at the Marlin Invitational when Jorgen Buskbjerg earned medalist honors. Potter, who was in his senior season at the time, tied for second in that event.

Averett next travels to the Golfweek Division III Fall Invitational on Oct. 15.