ETSU tied for fifth at Mason Rudolph Championship
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Junior Adrian Meronk and senior Rhys Pugh both moved into the top 10 and the ETSU men’s golf team is tied for fifth after second round play at the Mason Rudolph Championship on Saturday at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Meronk and Pugh began the day in a tie for 17th, but the Buccaneer duo combined for five birdies and two bogeys en route to making a move up the leaderboard.
Meronk, Golfweek’s 20th-ranked golfer, carded a 3-under 68 (four birdies and one bogey) to leap into a three-way tie for third at 3-under-par 139, while Pugh registered his second straight round of even-par – placing him into a tie for seventh – with a 36-hole score of 142. Meronk enters the final round two shots back of the individual leader and Pugh is five strokes back.
As a team, the 39th-ranked Buccaneers recorded a 4-over 288 and climbed into a tie for fifth-place with No. 48 Louisville at 11-over-par 579. ETSU’s score of 288 on Saturday marked the third-lowest round out of the 14-team field.
ETSU enters Sunday’s final round 12 shots back of team leader and tournament host Vanderbilt. The fifth-ranked Commodores were 3-over 287 on Saturday and hold a three-stroke lead over No. 11 Georgia Tech at 1-under-par 567.
Individually, Louisville’s Robin Sciot-Siegrist holds a one-shot lead over Vanderbilt’s Hunter Stewart at 5-under-par 137. Sciot-Siegrist, the 80th-ranked player via Golfstat, fired a 4-under 67 on Saturday, while Stewart, who is ranked No. 3 nationally, posted a 3-under 68 in round two.
Other ETSU notables included junior Gudmundur Kristjansson and sophomore Mateusz Gradecki. Gradecki jumped 17 spots up the board as he’s tied for 30th and Kristjansson is tied for 44th.
The Bucs tee off at 9:45 a.m. (ET) on Sunday and will be grouped with Louisville and Kennesaw State.
Mercer 12th at Mason Rudolph Championship
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Mercer University men's golf team wrapped up the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship in 12th place after carding a team score of 304 in Saturday's 18 holes of action.
The Bears have accrued a total score of 604 through the first 36 holes of the tournament, trailing Notre Dame by seven strokes heading into Sunday's final round. The event's host, Vanderbilt, leads the field with a 1-under-par total of 567.
Sophomore Sean Smothers paced Mercer with a 3-over score of 74 on Saturday, climbing nine spots in the second round to move into a tie with teammate Emmanuel Kountakis for 30th place overall with a total score of 148.
Jeffrey Heinicka Jr. was second on the team with a 5-over 76, while Kountakis and Trey Rule recorded scores of 6-over 77 today. Jerry Ren rounded out the Bears in action with a 9-over 80.