Led by Headrick, Eagles land in fifth after two rounds at Panther Invitational
MELBOURNE, Fla – Competing in a tournament with some of the top programs in the country, the Carson-Newman men’s golf team stands fifth at the end of two rounds in the Panther Invitational at the Duran Golf Club in Melbourne Fla.
MELBOURNE, Fla – Competing in a tournament with some of the top programs in the country, the Carson-Newman men's golf team stands fifth at the end of two rounds in the Panther Invitational at the Duran Golf Club in Melbourne Fla.
"We worked really hard today," said men's golf coach Randy Wylie, "but we're better than we played. We wasted too many shots. We had to count a 79 and an 80, which was really disappointing. On the plus side, we're learning to compete against some of the best teams in the country in very tough conditions. We're developing mental toughness and that will serve us well in the postseason."
Through 18 holes, C-N was in third with a 14-over 302, two strokes out of first and one shot ahead of the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the nation, Lynn University and Barry University, respectively. Coach Wylie's squad put forth another solid performance in round two with a score of 306 that puts them at 32-over with the one more round to be played tomorrow.
The biggest reason for the Eagles' success on Monday is sophomore Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.). He started out by birdieing two of the first six holes and finished the first round at even par. Headrick twice recorded a birdie on the par four second and the par three 13th and is tied for the seventh-most birdies at the event with seven. His stroke average of 2.88 on par threes is tied for the best in Melbourne and his 4.15 mark on par fours is fifth.
Not far behind Headrick is Tom Forster (Oundle, England) at plus six with a 150. He's tied for 12th after a second round 74, during which he played even golf for the final 12 holes. Forster also earned an eagle on the 15th hole in the first round, his second in the last two tournaments and one of just 10 through two rounds. He has also been the best player on par fives so far, as he's six-under on the course's longest holes.
The third score for Carson-Newman came from Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) with an 11-over 155 that tied him for 30th. Reese played his best golf on the back nine, shooting even par in the morning and two-over in the afternoon.
Brady Childers bounced back from a tough start to card a five-over 77 his second time out and will enter Tuesday even with eight other players in 46th. The native of Granite Falls, N.C. has collected 23 pars so far at Duran. Only four players have more.
Anthony Marcinelli provided C-N's fourth score in round one, entering the clubhouse with a seven-over, 79, but was unable to compete in round two.
Playing as an individual is junior Ben Kennard (Dandridge, Tenn.) and his score of 20-over 164 has him in 72nd place.
Barry's Niclas Weiland is atop the individual leaderboard at three-under, holding a two stroke lead over Florida Tech's Shanren Brienen. John Vanderlann and Christian Anderson, both from Florida Southern are three back and Lynn's Mateo Gomez is five back.
Among the teams, Florida Southern had the best day and the Mocs will enter the final round five shots ahead of Lynn and six up on Florida Tech.
At the completion of the tournament on Tuesday, visit cneagles.com for a recap and results.
5 Carson-Newman 302 306 608 (+32)
T6 Jake Headrick 72 75 147 (+3)
T12 Tom Forster 76 74 150 (+6)
T30 Dalton Reese 75 80 155 (+11)
T48 Brady Childers 81 77 158 (+14)
WD Anthony Marcinelli 79 WD WD (+7)
72 Ben Kennard 84 80 164 (+20)
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