TAMPA, Fla. – Three players finished the day in the top 10 as the Carson-Newman men's golf team ended the first two rounds tied for third at the St. Leo Men's Invitational in Tampa, Florida on Monday.

"I thought our team had some mixed results for the first tournament day of the year," Golf Coach Randy Wylie said. "I'm happy to be tied for third. Terrific play by Tom Forster, Jake Headrick and Dalton Reese. Against some of the best competition in the country, we started three freshmen and with them learning how to play in such a difficult situation, it was a pretty solid start to the season."

The Eagles had three players come in under par through 36 holes and they were led by freshman Tom Forster (Oundle, England). One of the new additions to the program this year, Forster shot a 69 in round 1, followed by a round 2 70, which puts him at -5 and in fourth place.

Not far behind Forster are teammates Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) and Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.). Headrick was three under par in round one and played an even round two. His score of -3 tied him for seventh. Just one shot behind him is Reese, who carded a one-under 71 in the morning and the afternoon and sits tied for ninth. Of the 12 teams in the tournament, only the Eagles and Florida Southern, the team currently in first place, have three players in the top 10.

The other two C-N players on the roster for the event were freshmen Fintan McKenna (Westhill, UK) and Brady Childers (Granite Falls, N.C.), both of whom showed marked improvement in the afternoon. McKenna shaved five strokes off his morning score, shooting a 75 in round two. His overall score has him tied for 60^th. Childers round one 83 jumped to round two 76 and he's tied for 68^th. All five Eagles were under 80 in the afternoon.

Sophomore Grant Bodie is playing in the invitational as an individual and is tied for 60^th with McKenna and one other gofler.

Carson-Newman's overall score of 577 has them tied with Florida Tech for third place in the event. Florida Southern, who has two players tied for first place, is at the top of the leaderboard with a 558, while Limestone entered the clubhouse in second place, posting a 575.

The teams will play the invitational's final 18 holes Tuesday morning. You can find all the details on the Eagles play on cneagles.com.

T3           Carson-Newman              289        288        577

4             Tom Forster        69           70           (-5)

T7           Jake Headrick     69           72           (-3)

T9           Dalton Reese      71           71           (-2)

T60        Fintan McKenna 80           75           (+11)

T68        Brady Childers    83           76           (+15)

T60        Grant Bodie        75           80           (+11)