Georgia Southern slips to second at FAU Slomin Center Invitational
LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Charlie Martin fired a 1-under-par 70 in the second round of the Slomin Center Invitational, and Georgia Southern finished 1-over as a team to move into second place Saturday afternoon at The Fountains North Course.
UCF (-10) shot 11-under-par to overtake the Eagles (-5) by five shots. Middle Tennessee State (+7) is third, followed by DePaul (+10) and Jacksonville State (+15).
Will Evans finished with an even-par 71, while Scott Wolfes, Hayden Anderson and Henry Mabbett all carded a 72. UCF’s Ricardo Gouveia and Greg Eason each posted a 65 Saturday and are first and second in the individual standings. Anderson and Martin are tied for fourth, and Evans is tied for sixth. Wolfes is tied for ninth and Mabbett is tied for 16th.
Martin birdied two of his first three holes for the second straight day, but a double-bogey on hole 2 and a bogey on hole 5 left him 1-over at the turn. The junior notched four straight pars to start the back nine and birdied holes 14 and 16 to move to 1-under. He bogeyed 17 and birdied 18 for the 70.
Evans got off to a hot start by birdieing three of the first four holes and finished the front nine 3-under. He posted three bogeys on the back for a 71. Anderson birdied the first as all five Eagles posted a 4 on the par-5 first hole. The senior played the front nine even and logged two bogeys and a birdie on the back to finish 1-over.
Wolfes ran off 12 straight pars during the middle of his round before bogeying holes 16 and 17. He birdied 18 to post a 72. Mabbett struggled a bit at the beginning of his round with three straight bogeys after birdieing the first hole. Consecutive bogeys on holes 9 and 10 dropped him to 3-over, but he got hot, coming in with birdies on holes 16 and 18 for a 72.
The third and final round is set for Sunday with the Eagles slated to tee off hole 10 at 8:45 a.m.
Elon jumps seven spots to sixth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – After posting the fifth-lowest score of any of the 18 teams in the Furman Intercollegiate field on Saturday, the Elon men's golf team climbed from a tie for 13th to a tie for sixth. The Phoenix's score after two rounds stands at 585 (295-290).
With a two-under-par 70 in his second round, Jonathan DiIanni sits in a tie for 13th out of the 111 players in the field. His two-round total sits at 143 (73-70). On Saturday, he started on the back nine, carding two birdies. After the turn, DiIanni added birdies on the par-5 sixth and par-4 ninth holes. He now has six birdies and one eagle through 36 holes.
In a tie for 32 are a pair of Phoenix golfers – Stuart Kaufman and John Somers. The duo sits at 147 after two rounds. Kaufman (73-74) has four birdies through two rounds, while Somers (75-72) has carded nine birdies after 36 holes.
Jack Adkins sits in a tie for 45th with a mark of 149 (75-74). Three of his four birdies in the tournament came during Saturday's action.
Finally, Will DiIanni's 153 (74-79) has him in a tie for 81st. He has tallied five birdies after two days of play.
Trevor Cone of Virginia Tech, the 69th-ranked player in the nation, leads all players with a 135 (66-69). He holds a one-stroke edge over Georgia State's J.J. Grey (69-67) with one round to play.
Georgia State (287-281) moved into a tie with 10th-rated Virginia Tech (285-283) to lead the team field. Both schools have marks of 568 after 36 holes.
The rest of the top five consists of 36th-ranked Kennesaw State (570), USC Upstate (578) and Akron (579).
The Phoenix is tied for sixth with Charleston Southern at 585.
Other SoCon teams in the field include Western Carolina (8th, 586), Wofford (T-9th, 587), Furman (T-9th, 587) and Samford (12th, 592).
The third and final round of the Furman Intercollegiate will be played at the Furman University Golf Course on Sunday.
Western Carolina eighth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Western Carolina junior J.T. Poston fired a second-round even-par 72 on Saturday to slip into a four-way tie for fourth place at the 45th-annual Furman Intercollegiate. The Catamounts (586) slid into eighth place in the overall standings with 18 holes remaining at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Poston carded 12 pars on Saturday, playing as low as 3-under-par on the front nine in his second round. After a bogey on the first hole, the Hickory, N.C., native eagled the par-5 No. 2 to move to 1-under-par. Birdies on the sixth and eighth holes, countered by a second bogey, left him a 2-under at the turn.
A costly double-bogey on the par-4 10th – a hole he birdied in the opening round – left Poston back at even where he remained, finishing the day with eight straight pars to shoot 72. Poston is 4-under for the tournament at 140, five strokes off the tournament individual lead.
For the Catamounts behind Poston, junior Matthew Turner is tied for 40th after rounds of 1-over 73 and 3-over 75. Turner carded two birdies and an eagle to counter seven bogeys. With three back-nine birdies, freshman Evan Smith slipped into a tie for 52nd after shooting 5-over 77 on Saturday for a two-day total of 150.
Redshirt junior Collin Witiak was six strokes better on Saturday, following up his first-round 79 with a 1-over-par 73 for a total of 152.Witiak had a rather quiet round, countering three bogeys - including back-to-back 1-over scores on the back nine – with a pair of birdies. Junior transfer Braydon Obremski rounded out the scoring five, sitting 90th with a 36-hole score of 154 (75-79).
Playing unattached, freshman Nont Panayanggool trimmed six strokes off his second round to shoot 5-over-par 77 for a two-day total of 160 to stand 104th overall with 18 holes to play.
Paired with golfers from Southern Conference foes Elon and Wofford, the Catamount scoring five will tee off on the back nine for Sunday's final round beginning at 11 a.m. Panayanggool will follow after Poston at 11:50 a.m. on the 10th.
Furman tied for ninth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men’s golf team fired a 294 Saturday to remain tied for ninth place following the second round of the 45th Furman Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Following two days of competition, No. 11 Virginia Tech (-8), winner of last year’s Furman Intercollegiate, is tied with Georgia State (-8) with a two-day total of 568. Kennesaw State (-6) is two shots behind in third. The Hokies’ Trevor Cone (-9) remains the individual leader after shooting 66-69=135 to conclude the second round at 9-under.
Paladin sophomore Wehman Hopke (+2) and junior Michael Borton (+2) each fired a 73 for the second straight round to tie for 25th place heading into Sunday’s final. Both Furman players registered a birdie on No. 15 on Saturday. Sophomore Preston Heyward (+3) carded a 75 in the second round with birdies on No. 2 and No. 18 to enter the final round tied for 32nd.
Freshman Bryce Howell (+4) birdied No. 3 and No. 16 in the second round to post a 73 for the day, tying for 40th, while sophomore Preston Cole (+7) led the Paladin with four birdies on Saturday, including three on the front nine, to tie for 61st place with a second-round 75. Senior Greg Carrier (+7), who remains Paladins’ top individual after two days of play, is tied with Cole for 61st after birdieing No. 8 and No. 12 for a 78 in Saturday’s round.
Furman (+11) will tee off of No. 1 at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday in the final round of the 54-hole tournament.
Wofford moves up to ninth at Furman Intercollegiate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford College men's golf team carded 10 birdies and two eagles through its final nine holes en route to a 5-over-par 292 on Saturday in the second round of the 45th annual Furman Intercollegiate.
The Terriers began the day in 13th place and climbed four spots into a tie for ninth with host Furman at 11-over 587. Wofford is just two strokes behind both Elon and Charleston Southern (+9) for sixth, with Western Carolina (+10) sandwiched between in eighth.
Senior George Perkovich headed Saturday's charge, carding an eagle and a birdie on a bogey-free front nine, as Wofford started at the 10th hole. Perkovich's eagle came on the par-5 sixth, which he also eagled in Friday's first round. The senior shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 25th place at 2-over 146.
Freshman Andrew Novak leads all Terriers. Novak matched Perkovich with a 72 on Saturday and is tied for 19th place at 1-over 145. The Mt. Pleasant, S.C., native carded birdies at the par-5, 512-yard second and par-3, 195-yard 16th, shooting an even-par 36 on both the front and back nines.
Senior Chandler Brazeal had another roller-coaster day. Brazeal was 2-over through eight before birdieing two of his next three to get back to even. He then bogeyed the par-4 third and par-4 fifth before landing an eagle at the par-5 sixth. A bogey on seven, birdie on eight and bogey on nine earned Brazeal a 1-over 73. He is tied for 32nd a 3-over-par for the tournament.
Junior Brannan Hudson settled down after being 3-over through eight holes. Hudson shot even-par through his final 10 to post a 3-over 75. He sank two birdies on the front nine, draining his first on the par-5 second and his second on the par-5 sixth. The junior is 6-over for the tournament.
Though his score was not included in the team total, sophomore Jeremy Grab birdied four holes to score a 3-under 33 on his final nine. Grab was 7-over at the turn and used four birdies to finish up with a 4-over 76. He birdied three straight at Nos. 2, 3 and 4, and drained his fourth at the par-5 sixth. He is tied with Hudson at 6-over through two rounds.
Wofford junior Cory Taylor and senior Brent McKenzie are also in the field, competing as individuals. Taylor had two birdies en route to a 3-over 75, while McKenzie struggled to an 11-over 83.
The final round of the 45th annual Furman Intercollegiate tees off on Sunday at 8 a.m. The Terriers will begin play at the 10th hole, starting at 11 a.m.