ETOWAH, N.C. – The 17th-ranked Carson-Newman men's golf team shot a seven-over 295 and is tied for the lead of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championships at Etowah Valley Golf Club in Etowah, N.C.
The Eagles are tied with dark horse Lenoir-Rhyne for the tournament lead after seven-over; entering the tournament, C-N was the top-ranked team in the league according to Golfstat.com, while the Bears were ranked fifth amongst the SAC programs.
Freshman Jake Headrick and seniors Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) and Jace DeVault (Bluff City, Tenn.) are each tied for third on the leaderboard after each student-athlete shot a one-over 73 in the first round.
"We're happy to be in the lead after the first round of the SAC Championships. I'm very pleased with the way guys played at the three, four and five-spot. Now we need our two first-team All-SAC players to step up," coach Randy Wylie said.
Kennedy bogeyed the par-five first hole to open his tournament but responded with 11 straight pars. The Canadian bogeyed the par-four 13th and par-four 15th, but birdied the par-five 16th to card the one-over 73. Kennedy's 13 pars tied for the second-most in the 60-player field.
DeVault opened his round with three consecutive bogeys but added pars on the par-four fourth and the par-three fifth. The senior then closed the front nine with two birdies in the final four holes to make the turn at one-over. A bogey on the par-three 10th was followed by five straight pars; the senior finished the round birdie-bogey-birdie for his score of one-over. DeVault led the field in par-five scoring with an average of 4.00 on the course's four par-fives.
Headrick went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey on his first five holes before recording his first par on the par-five sixth. After a par on par-four seventh, Headrick finished his front nine bogey-birdie for an eventful score of one-over after making the turn. Immediately after making the turn, the Maryville, Tenn. native birdied the par-four 10th and the par-four 13th. A double-bogey on the par-five 18th kept Headrick out of the red on the round. The freshman had the most birdies on the day amongst the entire field.
First-team All-SAC selection Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) started his round with back-to-back bogeys but birdieing the par-four third hole. The senior responded from a double-bogey on par-three fifth with a birdie on the par-five sixth and closed his fount nine at two-over. A pair of bogeys surrounded by seven pars on the back nine rounded out Hall's round at four-over 76. He is tied for 26th.
Junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) shot four bogeys and two double-bogeys for a front-nine eight-over 44. On the back nine, the first-team All-SAC performer bogeyed the 10th and 13th holes and double-bogeyed the 14th. Reese ended his round with his lone birdie on the day at the 18th to finish with an 11-over 83 and is tied for 55th.
Mars Hill trails Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne by three strokes, while Coker and 19th-ranked Lincoln Memorial round out the top-five with a tie for fourth at 12-over. L-R's Hunter McCombs and Jon Noble from Queen's (N.C.) are tied for tournament lead at two-under. The trio of Eagles are in a seven-way tie for third and are three strokes back of the leading duo.
The second day of the SAC Men's Golf Championships tees off at 8:30 a.m. from Etowah Valley Golf Club on Monday morning.
T1 Carson-Newman 295 +7
T3 Jace DeVault 73 +1
T3 Jake Headrick 73 +!
T3 Nicklaus Kennnedy 73 +1
T26 Andrew Hall 76 +4
T55 Dalton Reese 83 +11