It was a day to be forever etched in the Radford men’s golf history books as Bryce Corbett became the first Highlander ever to win the Big South Individual title while the 2022-23 edition of the Highlanders became the first team in program history to finish stroke play in first place at the Big South Championships.
It came down to the wire as Corbett and Charleston Southern’s Ben Carroll, a Blacksburg native, battled through the back nine and into the 18th hole. Down three strokes after back-to-back bogeys, Carroll made it extremely close with an eagle to close out his round, but Corbett stayed calm, cool and collected to seal the victory with a par.
The Gainesville, Va. native shot -4 across 54 holes, carding a 75-66-71—212 to top the entire field and pace the Radford squad, but his teammates came up huge as well.
In his very first season representing the red and white, Nathan Piatt proved to be an invaluable addition to the program by Head Coach Mike Grant and he showed it yet again with a T-7th finish. The transfer from Tampa University had his best round of the tournament, shooting a 2-under 70 to bring his final score to +2.
Bringing tons of championship experience with him, Patrick Gareiss was arguably the most consistent Highlander over the last two days with a 72-74-74—220 to finish +4 and in a tie for 13th.
Veteran fifth-year Nicholas Taliaferro rounded out the scoring with a strong +9, bringing him into a tie for 21stand helping Radford clinch the top spot on the team leaderboard.
After subbing in for Channing Blevins, Bobby Dudeck was excellent, following up his second-round 73 with a third-round 75.
Adding to an incredible week for the Radford men’s golf program, Bryce Corbett was named Big South Golfer of the Year, adding another “first-ever” to the record books. Corbett was also named First Team All-Big South for the second consecutive year while Nathan Piatt was named Big South Honorable Mention and Nicholas Taliaferro made the Big South All-Academic Team, the conference office announced last week.
Corbett entered the conference championships leading the Big South in stroke average this season and he proved that was no fluke by winning the individual title with a 75-66-71—212 (-4).
The junior earned himself an automatic bid to NCAA Regionals as an individual.
Piatt has been an invaluable addition to the squad this year and picks up a postseason award to back it up. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native finished the regular season fifth in the Big South with a 72.88 stroke average across 24 rounds and proceeded to tie for seventh in the conference championships.
He carded a 72-76-70—218 (+2) with 11 birdies and 33 pars to help the Highlanders top the team leaderboard in stroke play.
Taliaferro has been a consistent presence on the course and an incredible student off of it. The fifth-year senior has worked his way to a 3.91 cumulative grade point average as a Finance major.
It’s the second All-Academic award of his collegiate career with his first nod coming during the 2019-20 season as a sophomore.
Radford University Athletics
