LOUDON, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's golf team is tied for fourth-place and freshman Ben Kennard (Corryton, Tenn.) is tied for third after the first round of the Tennessee River Ramble at the Tennessee National Golf Club in Loudon, Tenn.
Kennard is three strokes off the lead heading to Tuesday's final round after shooting a first round one-over 73 and the team is seven strokes over the team lead.
The freshman's 73 is the best round of his Carson-Newman career.
"We did not finish strong, late today as a team; kind of missed a golden opportunity to be on or very near the lead," coach Randy Wylie said. "We are playing well enough to contend, so, hopefully I'll do a better job of coaching tomorrow."
Kennard tallied birdies on all the course's four par-5s and he finished the round at one-over 73. He leads the tournament in par-5 scoring and has a one-over score on par-3s. He is also tied for second with most birdies.
Sophomore Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) and juniors Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Nathan Hodge (Jefferson City, Tenn.) all fired scores of 77 to finish the round at five-over and are tied for 14th. Reese and Hodge both recorded two birdies on the day and Hall holed a ball below the recommended score. Reese has the team's lowest-score in par-4 scoring with a stroke average of 4.20, while Hodge's 4.40 stroke average is second on the team. Hall tallied 11 pars on the day, which was the fourth-most in the competition.
Hodge is competing as an individual in the tournament and recorded the low score of all 11 individuals competing.
Juniors Corey Bray (Caryville, Tenn.) and Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario) rounded out the team's score with cards on 83 and 84 respectively. Bray is tied for 49th and Kennedy is in a five-way tie for 55th.
Competing in a tournament for the first time since September, individual competitors Rafael Carrillo (Guadalajara, Mexico) and Jack Gillespie (Knoxville, Tenn.) shot scores of 89 and 93.
Host Lincoln Memorial leads the team competition by three strokes over Catwaba and five shots over third-place Brevard. Catawba's Matt Hardman and LMU's Braden Galyon are tied for the lead at two-under 70.
The final round of the Tennessee River Ramble is set for a 9 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.
T4 Carson-Newman 310
T3 Ben Kennard 73 +1
T14 Dalton Reese 77 +5
T14 Andrew Hall 77 +5
T14 Nathan Hodge 77 +5
T49 Corey Bray 83 +11
T55 Nicklaus Kennedy 84 +12
T76 Rafael Carrillo 89 +17
81 Jack Gillespie 93 +21
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