Georgia Southern fifth at Mason Rudolph
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Charlie Martin carded a 69 for the second straight day, and the Georgia Southern men’s golf team moved up one spot into fifth place in the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course on Saturday.
Martin’s 69 was tied for the second-lowest on the course Saturday, and the junior is tied for second at 4-under-par with Vanderbilt’s Hunter Stewart. Florida State’s Jack Maguire fired a 66 to move from ninth into first at 5-under-par.
Martin birdied his first hole and, following a bogey on hole 2, ran off four straight pars before birdieing hole 7 and making the turn at 1-under. A bogey on hole 12 dropped him to even, but he rallied with a par on 13, followed by consecutive birdies on 14 and 15.
The Eagles (+15) shot 290 as a team to climb into fifth place, a stroke behind Louisville (+14) and a stroke ahead of Mercer (+16) and College of Charleston (+16). Top-ranked Alabama (+7), the only team to shoot under par in the first round, shot 10-over to fall into second behind the host Commodores (+5), who posted an even-par 284 Saturday. Kennesaw State (+12) is in third after posting an 8-over 292.
Scott Wolfes shot a 1-over 72, Hayden Anderson posted a 74, and Will Evans shot a 75. Henry Mabbett posted a 77, with a double-bogey on the last hole putting a damper on his day. It was one of three costly doubles for Georgia Southern.
After a bogey on hole 2, Wolfes got a birdie on hole 4 and was even through 11. He bogeyed hole 12 and came in with six pars, giving him 15 on the day. Anderson was even through the first six holes before getting hurt with a double-bogey on hole 7. He rallied with a birdie on hole 8, but bogeys on 9, 12 and 13 put him at 4-over. The senior rallied again with consecutive birdies on 14 and 15 before a bogey at 16 left him 3-over for the day.
Evans birdied his first hole and was 1-over after a birdie on hole 7. He double-bogeyed hole 8 to move to 3-over and played the back at 1-over with two birdies and three bogeys. Mabbett was 4-over through the first 13 holes before a birdie on hole 14 moved him to 3-over. The sophomore struggled finishing the round and played his last three holes 3-over.
The third and final round of the tournament is slated for Sunday, and the Eagles will tee off of hole 1 at 8:50 a.m. and play with Louisville and Mercer.
Appalachian State 10th at Irish Creek Collegiate
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Senior John Michael Cole tied a career-low round of 68 at the Irish Creek Collegiate on Saturday to lead the Appalachian State University men's golf team in the first round at the par-71, 7,099-yard Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, N.C.
Cole finished the round 3-over-par on the first day. He shot a 6-over-par 77 in the second round to place him tied for 22nd overall.
The University of North Florida is currently in the top spot in the tournament, followed by future Sun Belt opponent Georgia State. Appalachian State finished 16-over-par 584 and is currently in 10th place.
Casey Komline is in second for Appalachian and tied for 27th overall. He shot the second-best round for the Mountaineers with a 2-under-par 69. Lee Mitchell has a total of 148 in two rounds, followed by Eric Eberspeaker with a 149 two-round total.
The second and final round will start on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. All golfers will begin on holes 1 and 10.
Davidson 12th at Irish Creek Collegiate
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Looking for his 17th career top-10 finish, senior Richard Fountain paced the Davidson men’s golf team on day one of the 2014 Irish Creek Collegiate on Saturday.
The 54-hole event is being played on The Club at Irish Creek’s par-71, 7,099-yard layout.
A senior from Raleigh, N.C., Fountain (+1) is currently tied for 13th following rounds of 72 and 71. David Sargent (73-75=148) and Ralph Blasey (79-69=148) are five back of their teammate in a tie for 46th out of 90 competitors, while Sam Echikson (73-79=152) and Andy Simmons (79-74=153) sit tied for 69th and 74th, respectively.
Alex Nianouris (75-77=152) and Todd Eckstein (81-76=157) are competing as individuals for the Wildcats.
Davidson (297-289=586), which sits in 12th place, will enter the final round just seven strokes out of the top five.
North Florida and Georgia State are tied atop the team leaderboard at 2-over 570, while first-round leader and co-host Charlotte is one off the pace.
M.J. Maguire of North Florida and the 49ers’ Thomas Rowland (68-69) share the individual lead with 36-hole totals of 5-under 137. Maguire opened with a 73 before carding a tournament-low 7-under 64 in round two.
The third and final round will begin Sunday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.