Coalson leads Tiger Invitational, UNCG fourth
OPELIKA, Ala. – The UNCG men’s golf team moved up three spots into a tie for fourth place overall at the Tiger Invitational at the Grand National Lake Course hosted by Auburn University Monday. The Spartans will tee off in the third and final round Tuesday off of hole No. 1 with tee times from 8:30-9:06 a.m. (CT).
The Spartans finished round two with an even-par 288 score, improving 13 strokes and three spots in the standings from round one (297-288). Tournament host and No. 14 Auburn holds a strong lead at the top of the team standings with a 13-under par 563 (290-273) while No. 50 Troy is second at 3-under par 573 (296-277). South Alabama is third at 8-over par 284 (301-283) while the Spartans are tied for fourth with Georgia State (300-285) at 585.
Junior Taylor Coalson maintained his first round lead as he is in a three-way tie for first place overall with a 6-under par 138. Coalson opened the tournament with a 4-under par 68 Sunday afternoon and followed that up with a 2-under par 70 Monday. He carded two bogeys, 12 pars and four birdies on holes No. 4, 8, 10 and his last hole of the day, No. 18. Coalson is tied for first overall with Hayden Shieh of Santa Clara (69-69) and No. 97 Michael Johnson of Auburn (72-66).
Senior Roy Dixon posted the Spartans’ lowest round of the day and had the largest move up the leaderboard Monday. Dixon carded a 4-under par 68 in round two to move up 22 spots into a tie for 13th place with a 1-under par 143 (75-68). He recorded two bogeys and 10 par scores on the round to go along with six birdies on holes No. 4, 7, 14, 16, and 17. He finished his round strong with birdies in three out of the last five holes.
Freshman Josh Stockwell continued his consistent play as he finished with an even-par 72 Monday. Stockwell moved up 11 spots in the standings into a tie for 29th place overall with a 4-over par 148 (76-72). Again he was solid, posting two bogeys, two birdies (No. 12 & 14) and 14 par scores. He is tied for the tournament lead with 26 par scores through the first two rounds.
Sophomore Jake McGlone rounded out the Spartans’ scoring numbers with a 6-over par 78 in round two. McGlone is tied for 71st overall with a 12-over par 156 (78-78). Senior Alex Ehlert wraps up the Spartans’ lineup with a 23-over par 167 (87-80).
Chattanooga 13th at Tiger Invitational
OPELIKA, Ala. – It was another solid day on the course for Chattanooga Mocs sophomore Ewan Scott. The Scot turned in a level par 72 in Monday’s second round at the Tiger Invitational. He is tied for 19th at 1 over (145) on the Grand National Lake Course.
Scott along with Kory Webb led the Mocs to today’s 299. Webb carded 1-over 73. His day didn’t start well, but he finished with a flourish. He stepped to the tee at the par 5 fourth hole, his 13th of the day, at 4 over. Three straight birdies followed by three pars ended with his 1-over total.
Andrew Weathers’ 76 and Wes Gosselin’s 78 rounded out the team score. Liam Johnston had the drop card with an 81. Brooks Thomas shot 77 as an individual.
No. 14 Auburn extended its team lead to 10 with a 15-under par 273. The Tigers stand at 563 (-13) ahead of Troy in second at 573 (-3). The Trojans’ 277 was the day’s second-lowest round. South Alabama is in third at 584. There is a three-way tie for the individual lead at 6-under par between Auburn’s Michael Johnson, UNCG’s Taylor Coalson and Santa Clara’s Hayden Shieh.
The final round starts at 9:30 a.m., Eastern time, on the 10th hole. Johnston opens followed by Gosselin (9:39), Weathers (9:48), Webb (9:57) and Scott (10:06).
ETSU eighth at General Hackler Championship
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The ETSU men’s golf team is in eighth-place and junior Adrian Meronk is tied for 24th following the first two rounds of the General Hackler Championship, which began Monday at The Dunes Club.
The 39th-ranked Buccaneers shot 2-over-par 290 and were tied for fifth after the first round, but the Blue and Gold dropped three spots following their 15-over-par 303 in round two and sit at 17-over 593 for the tournament.
Meronk also got off to a solid start as he fired a 2-under 70 and was tied for 10th after 18 holes of competition; however, the 18th-ranked golfer registered a 5-over 77 in the second round, moving him into a tie for 24th at 3-over-par 147. The Wroclaw, Poland, native tallied four birdies in the opening round and was off to another strong start in the second round, but things unraveled midway through. Meronk was 2-under after five holes in the second round, bue he carded a double-bogey on the par-3, No. 9 and bogeyed five of his next six holes, resulting in the 5-over.
NC State holds the team and individual lead after day one as the Wolfpack finished at 5-under-par 571 (288-283) and hold a three-shot advantage over No. 25 North Florida. NC State and UNF were the only teams to finish below par following 36 holes of play, as No. 47 Iowa State is in third at 7-over 583, while Kent State and North Texas are tied for fifth at 10-over-par 586.
Individually, Jacob McBride has a two-stroke lead as the NC State sophomore stands at 6-under-par 138 and five golfers are tied for second at 4-under 140.
Junior Chris Hickman and senior Tom Heggarty are tied for 30th at 4-over 148 and junior Gudmundur Kristjansson is tied for 40th at 6-over 150. Both Hickman and Heggarty were even-par after round one.
The final round of the tournament concludes on Tuesday with teams teeing off 9 a.m. ETSU will be paired with East Carolina and Cincinnati.
Samford fourth at Samford Intercollegiate
HOOVER, Ala. – Despite damp and windy conditions Monday, the Samford University men's golf team turned in a pair of consistent rounds in the 2015 Samford Intercollegiate being held at Hoover Country Club. The Bulldogs carded identical scores of 301 to move into fourth place of the 10-team event.
The final round of action is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (CDT).
Samford’s Robert Adams posted a team-best, two-round score of 2-over-par 146 (74-72) and currently sits in fifth place. He will enter the final round of action just four strokes behind co-leaders Casey Fernandez (72-70=142) and Hayes Weathersby (74-68=142), both of Southern Miss.
The Bulldogs’ sophomore Ashton Nix is also among the top-10 players in the tournament. Samford’s talented native of Auburn opened Monday’s competition with a first-round score of 1-under-par 71 before closing out the day with a 76. Nix sits just five strokes out of first place.
Fellow sophomore Garrett Moores tallied a two-round total of 152 (79-73) on Monday and will enter the third-and-final round of action tied for 20th place in the event.
Rounding out Samford’s countable team scores following the first 36 holes of play were Austin Jackson (77-80=157) and Ivan Truss (80-81=161). Junior Mac Hennessy competed as an individual Monday and turned in a two-round tally of 156 (74-82).
The Bulldogs’ Chris Clouser and Jake Miller also played as individuals on the opening day of the 2015 Samford Intercollegiate and carded scores of 163 (80-83) and 172 (87-85), respectively.
The field of this week's tournament consists of the following teams: Samford (host), Arkansas-Little Rock, Emmanuel College, Lipscomb, Miles College, Montevallo, University of New Orleans (UNO), Nicholls State, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky.
Southern Miss scorched the course Monday and posted a two-round total of 1-under-par 575 (289-286). The Golden Eagles own a 16-stroke lead over second-place Lipscomb (299-292=591) and a 24-stroke advantage over third-place Arkansas-Little Rock.
The 2015 Samford Intercollegiate will resume Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) with the third-and-final round of action being held at the Hoover Country Club.
Furman seventh at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – Junior Wehman Hopke (-5) fired a 67 in Monday’s morning round and a 68 in the afternoon to place Furman (E) in seventh place following the opening day of the 18th-annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate at the par 70, 6,617 yard Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C.
Heyward, who scored five birdies in the morning round and added four additional birdies in the afternoon round to tie for seventh place, finished the first day of play just three strokes back of leader Scott Wolfes (-8) of Georgia Southern, who notched a two-round total of 67-65=132.
Eighth-ranked South Carolina (-14) leads the tournament with a two-round total of 546. #33 Clemson (-13) is second, while #19 Virginia (-8) is in third place following two rounds of competition.
Junior Bryce Howell (-2) notched three sets of consecutive birdies in the opening round, with back-to-back birdies on No. 1 and 2, No. 10 and 11, and No. 15 and 16, carding a 68 in the morning and returning with four birdies for a 70 in the afternoon to tie for 15th place entering Tuesday’s play.
Junior Preston Cole (E) opened the day with a 69 with birdies on No. 14 and No. 18 then tallied four birdies, including birdies on three out of four holes form No. 11 to No. 14 for a 71 in afternoon play. He is tied for 23rd heading into the final round.
Senior Michael Borton (+7) shot a 77 in the opening round then answered with a 70 in the second round, carding consecutive birdies on No. 1 and 2 and birdieing No. 10 and 15 to tie for 64th, while freshman Harrison Brink (+17) carded a 77 in the opening round and notched three birdies for an 80 in the afternoon to tie for 86th place.
The final round of the 54-hole tournament will begin with a shotgun start Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
Western Carolina 18th at Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
AIKEN, S.C. – Western Carolina senior J.T. Poston carded rounds of even-par, 70, and two-under par, 68, to stand tied for 15th overall, six strokes off the individual lead at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Invitational being held at the par-70, 6,617-yard Palmetto Golf Club.
In a field riddled with nationally-ranked programs, WCU was 18th after the opening 18 holes and remained there after the completion of the second round. All told, six squads inside the GolfStat Top 50 are in contention for the team title, headlined by two inside the top 20 in No. 8 South Carolina and No. 19 Virginia, as well as USC-Aiken, which is fourth in the latest NCAA Division II rankings.
WCU carded team rounds of 298 and 294 for a 36-hole tally of 592, seven strokes in arrears of its closest competitor.
Opening the tournament on the front nine, Poston made the turn at three-over par after shooting six pars and three bogies to start the day. The Hickory, N.C., product responded, though, by charting a trio of birdies and six more pars on the back nine to shoot even over the opening 18 holes. In round two, Poston matched a bogey with a birdie to move to the back nine even par. From there, he penciled in two more birdies for the two-under round of 68.
All told, Poston carded six birdies over the opening 36 holes on Monday.
Freshman Bright Julamool is tied for 69th overall after rounds of three-over par, 73, and five-over par, 75. He was just one birdie behind Poston with five carded on the day, but had 11 bogies and one double-bogey over his first two rounds.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were junior Tyler Lail in 84th (79-74=153), freshman Jackson Bishop in 85th (76-78=154) and senior Matthew Turner in a tie for 86th with a score of 157 (80-77). Lail had four birdies while Bishop had one birdie and an eagle on the par-5 10th during his first round. Turner carded a birdie during his first round on Monday.
Eighth-ranked South Carolina leads archrival – and 33rd-ranked – Clemson by a single stroke entering Tuesday’s final 18 holes. The Gamecocks posted rounds of 270 and 276 for a total of 546 to lead the Tigers, which bounced back from an opening round 282 to shoot 15-under par as a team to advance five spots into the runner-up position at 547.
No. 19 Virginia is third at 552 (276-276) with No. 28 Kennesaw State fourth at 558 (279-279) and GRU Augusta and Idaho rounding out the top five with matching scores of 559.
Georgia Southern standout Scott Wolfes, ranked 50th in the latest GolfStat ratings, leads the 90 golfer field by a stroke over second-place Aaron Cockerill from Idaho. Wolfes posted rounds of three-under par, 67, and five-under par, 65, for a total of 132 while Cockerill fired 66 and 67 to stand at seven-under par, 133.
The final round gets underway with a shotgun start at 9:30 am on Tuesday. Matched with golfers from former Southern Conference member, Elon, and Francis Marion, the Catamount scoring five hit the course between the 16th and 18th holes.