Mercer sixth at Linger Longer Invitational
EATONTON, Ga. – The Mercer University men's golf team had three players ranked among the top 16 on the opening day of the Linger Longer Invitational while finishing sixth in the team standings in a tournament that features seven teams inside Golfstat.com's top 30.
The Bears shot a 2-under-par 286 in the first round of the tournament before firing a 5-under 283 to finish the day with a two-round total of 569. Mercer will head into Sunday's final 18 holes of play ahead of No. 24 Alabama by one shot and nine strokes behind No. 15 Oklahoma and Georgia.
Senior Trey Rule continued his recent tear, wrapping up Saturday with a 7-under score of 137. Playing in his hometown of Eatonton, Rule matched a career-best with a 6-under 66 in the final round, firing seven birdies and one bogey.
Emmanuel Kountakis used a string of four birdies on five holes to top the squad with a 4-under 68 in the opening round of play before carding a 1-under 71 on his way to a tie for 12th with a total tally of 139. Sean Smothers climbed 13 places in his final 18 holes of the day, recording a 2-under score of 70 to finish in a tie for 16th with a score of 141.
Jerry Ren tallied back-to-back rounds of 4-over 76 to round out the scoring for Mercer, while Jeffrey Heinicka's 4-over 76 in this afternoon's closing round gave him a two-round total of 156.
The Bears return to action Sunday, as they tee off with the second group as part of the shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
UNCG 11th at Linger Longer
EATONTON, Ga. – The UNCG men’s golf team made its first appearance Saturday in the prestigious Linger Longer Invitational, co-hosted by Kennessaw State and Mercer, and sits in 11th place overall at the Great Waters and Reynolds Plantation.
The 15-team field includes 14 teams ranked in the top 100 and seven teams ranked in the top 50. The 62nd-ranked Spartans will tee off in the third and final round Sunday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start from holes Nos. 12-16. Live scoring will be available via www.golfstatresults.com.
The Spartans posted a 36-hole team score of 1-over par 577 to sit in 11th place overall. UNCG is just three strokes behind No. 30 Clemson and Liberty for eighth place overall heading into the final round. The Spartans carded an even-par 288 in round two and a 1-over-par 289 in round three. No. 25 Kennesaw State holds the team lead with a 23-under par 553 (273-280) while No. 3 Texas is four shots back at 19-under par 557 (273-284). No. 10 Lee McCoy of Georgia holds the individual lead at 9-under-par 135 (65-70) and four of the top five golfers are ranked in the top 33 in the nation individually.
Junior Taylor Coalson and senior Roy Dixon lead the Spartans in a tie for 26th place overall at 1-under-par 143. Coalson opened with a 1-under-par 71 in round one and followed up with an even-par 72. He tallied five birdies, six bogeys and an eagle-3 on hole No. 2 in the first round. Dixon posted the Spartans’ lowest round of the day with a 2-under-par 70 in round one before adding a 1-over par 73. He carded five birdies and a team-high 27 par scores on the afternoon.
Freshman Josh Stockwell continued his strong play as he finished even-par 144 and sits in a tie for 38th place overall. Stockwell opened with a 1-over-par 73 before posting a 1-under-par 71 in round two. He finished with six birdies and 24 par scores on the afternoon.
Sophomore Jake McGlone is tied for 61st overall with a 3-over par 147. McGlone posted a 2-over-par 74 in round one and a 1-over-par 73 in round two. Junior Luke Haithcock rounded out the lineup with an 8-over-par 152 (75-77).
Chattanooga 15th at Linger Longer
EATONTON, Ga. – The Chattanooga Mocs’ slow start has the squad in 15th after 36 holes at the Linger Longer Invitational on Saturday. The Mocs shot rounds of 296 and 291 for a 36-hole total of 587 on Great Waters Golf Course.
Ewan Scott (74-71) and Brooks Thomas (72-73) are 1-over to lead the way. Liam Johnston shot 2-over, followed by Wes Gosselin (+6) and Kory Webb (+9).
Chattanooga started its day on holes 10-12 in the shotgun start. The opening seven-to-nine holes were treacherous as the team was quickly 10-over par on its counting cards. That turned itself almost as quickly as the Mocs worked their way through the par-5 second.
An eagle and three birdies later, at the team got back to 6-over. Johnston made the big move. He was 5-over through eight holes. His five birdies over the last 10 ended his morning with a 74 (+2). Thomas (E) and Scott (+2) were in support.
The final hole was tough for all but two Mocs. Johnston and Thomas birdied their last of the first round at nine and 12, respective. Bogeys from Scott and Gosselin along with a double by Webb rounded out the 296 (+8).
Chattanooga got off to a better start in the afternoon. The team was 2-under heading to the front side of the course, but it could not get lower. The 5-under performance on No. 2 in the morning became 2-over in the afternoon. The quintet dropped to 3-over for the round shooting 291 with Scott’s 1-under 71 leading the squad. Johnston and Thomas turned in 73s, one ahead of Gosselin’s 74.
No. 25 Kennesaw State is the 36-hole leader at 23-under (553). No. 3 Texas is second at 19-under, while No. 20 North Carolina ranks third at 17-under. Georgia’s Lee McCoy (-9) is the leader by one over the 8-under trio of Beau Hossler (Texas), Ben Griffin (UNC) and Austin Vick (KSU).
Sunday’s final round is a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., due to weather concerns. The Mocs are paired with Yale and Charlotte.