ETOWAH, N.C. – The 17th-ranked Carson-Newman men's golf team used nine birdies on the back nine to stay in a tie for first-place after the second round of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championships at Etowah Valley Country Club in Etowah, N.C.
The Eagles tallied up 17 bogeys or worse during their first nine holes of play on Monday afternoon but were able to shoot a collective two-over after making the turn to remain in a tie for first with Lenoir-Rhyne. Carson-Newman is 15-over with a two-round total of 591.
Eleven strokes separate the Eagles and Bears from the two teams tied for sixth in a crowded leaderboard in the Tar Heel State.
Senior Jace DeVault's (Bluff City, Tenn.) carded a rare albatross with a two on the par-five sixth, while freshman Jake Headrick shot his second one-over 73 of the tournament to stay within the top-five in the individual competition.
Headrick used two birdies to counteract two bogeys to make the turn at even-par. Headrick birdied the sixth and ninth holes for his front-nine 36. After opening the back nine birdie-bogey, the freshman finished with a pair of bogeys and a birdie for the one-over 73. The Honorable Mention All-SAC player is tied for the tournament lead with nine birdies. Headrick is tied for fourth after two rounds of competition.
DeVault's eventful front nine featured a double-eagle, five bogeys and a triple-bogey; the senior's albatross was nestled between five bogeys as he shot a five-over on the front nine. DeVault immediately bogeyed the 10th hole after making the turn, but responded with two birdies in the next four holes. After paring the next three holes, the senior eagled the par-five 18th to turn in a three-under on the back nine. The Bluff City, Tenn. native ended the day with a two-over 74. DeVault leads the 60-person field in par-five scoring with a score of nine-under over his first 36 holes of play. He is tied for sixth.
Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) shot two-over through his first five holes, but a birdie on the par-five sixth and an eagle on par-five ninth for an even-par 36 on the front nine. A double-bogey on the par-four 13th and three bogeys put that surrounded a pair of birdies led to a three-over 75 on the day for Kennedy. The Canadian is four-over through two rounds and tied for 10th.
Senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) opened his round with a bogey on the first hole of the tournament but responded with five straight pars. Hall made the turn at three-over. On the back nine, the first-team All-SAC selection shot one-under with a birdie and eight pars to finish the afternoon at two-over 74. Hall has tallied 25 pars in his 36 holes of competition, which is the second-most in the field. He is tied for 19th at six-over.
Junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) carded four pars en route to a four-over 40 on the front nine. After the turn, the junior pared three consecutive holes before recording three straight bogies. A birdie-bogey-birdie finish, which were Reese's first two birdies of the round, moved the Warrenton, Ga. native's round to six-over 78. Reese is tied for 55th.
L-R and C-N lead Lincoln Memorial by two strokes, while the Coker Cobras are five strokes off the pace in fourth-place. Mars Hill rounds out the top-five at 22-over and seven shots off the leaders. Queens's (N.C.) Jon Noble has a one-stroke lead over Coker Will Bundy in the individual competition, while Newberry's Fredrik Fossum is one-over and two shots behind Noble. Headrick is tied with Adam Lumley from Mars Hill for fourth.
The final round of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championships begins at 8:30 a.m. with teams going off the first and 10th tees. Live scoring is available on cneagles.com and updates will be available on Twitter at @cnathletics.
T1 Carson-Newman 295 296 +15
T4 Jake Headrick 73 73 +2
T6 Jace DeVault 73 74 +3
T10 Nicklaus Kennnedy 73 75 +4
T19 Andrew Hall 76 74 +6
T55 Dalton Reese 83 78 +17
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