Senior Filippo Reale won first place this weekend at the Trevecca Music City Invitational after a record-breaking second round of golf, while the Charger golf team landed in 4th place overall.
An international student from Rome, Italy, Reale shot 9-under-par in the second round, scoring 61 on the par-70 Hermitage Golf Course in Old Hickory, Tennessee. This round broke the previous school record of 6-under-par. He also tied the course record with Annika Sörenstam, a professional Swedish female golfer with over 96 pro tournament wins to her name.
“He played just an incredible round,” head men’s golf coach Matt Thompson said. “It’s hard to describe. It was really, really cool for him.”
Reale came into the second round hot with a birdie on the first hole. He went on to shoot well on his fifth and sixth hole, scoring back to back eagles. Those scores shot him up to first place.
“So the ball went in the hole from 75 yards out,” Reale said. “Having one hole out is pretty rare. Having two in a row is pretty insane.”
Coach Thompson started following Reale as he played to bring some encouragement as he continued to score birdies. On hole 6, one of his last holes, Reale had the chance to hole out yet again.
“I hit a good drive and had 65 yards in. I’m walking up to the ball and I look at my coach and I say, ‘Hey, eagle time,’” Reale said. “I step up, I hit it, and it bounces and goes in. At that point I’m not even happy. I’m just in shock.”
Sophomore Ryan O’Rourke said that his mom came up to him during his round to tell him how well Reale was doing.
“She was like ‘Filo’s seven under right now!’” O’Rourke said. “And it was just awesome.”
Reale’s friends and brother sophomore Francesco Reale excitedly followed the results of the round from Hillsdale on the live scoreboard while Reale was playing.
“I really appreciate the amount of support I got from teammates, old teammates, friends, people that go to school, even professors,” Reale said.
Coach Thompson explained the rarity of scoring three eagles in a round.
“I’ve never heard of that happening before. That is just wild,” Thompson said. “Making three eagles from 70 yards in one round is unbelievable. He’s in very small company if it has happened before.”
The team was excited to celebrate with Reale even though they didn’t place as well as hoped, ending in fourth place even though they had a chance at victory according to O’Rourke. Next week, they head to the Ken Partridge Invitational in Indiana where they’ll compete against the best field of the year, according to Coach Thompson.
“There’s definitely some things we’ve got to get cleaned up in a short turnaround,” Thompson said. “We have to dig deep and figure out how to get better over the next couple days and really just get mentally prepared to go out there next week.”
Despite the exciting individual victory, Reale said that the main focus is on placing well as a team.
“At the end of the day, winning individually is sweet, but winning as a team is even better,” Reale said.
For one of the final tournaments of his time playing golf for Hillsdale, Reale said he was really happy to have this experience.
“After four years of a roller coaster ride for him with times of playing well and then really struggling for a while, for him to be able to do this in his final semester and get a collegiate victory is great,” Thompson said. “He’s become a great leader, really trying to get the boys across the finish line. I am just super excited for him.”
