SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – With four players carding red numbers, the Carson-Newman men's golf team matched its lowest single round score in program history with a 14-under 274 that puts them at -15 with two rounds of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in the books at the Sevierville Golf Club in Sevierville Tenn.
The last time the Eagles posted a round this low was in 2004 at the Eagle Invitational. This also ties for the seventh-lowest round in the history of the South Atlantic Conference. With one day remaining in Sevierville, C-N owns a 15 shot lead on the second-place Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters and they are up by 25 on third-place Evansville.
"It was great to see everything come together," said coach Randy Wylie. "We'd played a little below what we can do in some of our previous tournaments and it was great to see the whole team play well. We talk all the time about playing one shot at a time and holding to our game plan. We did a great job finishing our rounds and not getting distracted by our standing in the tournament."
For the second straight day, Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) entered the clubhouse as the overall leader. He shot a three-under 69 and is at -7 through 36 holes, two shots up on the three players tied for second. His score of 137 through 36 holes ties for the 12th-best in SAC history and the second-best in Carson-Newman history. The senior is tied for the event lead in birdies with 11 and has thrived on par fives, where he is at -5, trailing only one participant.
Two of the three student-athletes who are knotted up in second place are wearing Blue and Orange: Tom Forster (Oundle, England) and Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.). Forster had a remarkable day on the links, cruising to a six-under 66 that elevated him from seventh and tied for the 10th –best 18 hole score in conference history. He also missed reaching the Carson-Newman record by a single stroke. Forster's par four stroke average of 3.85 is deadlocked for the tourney's best and he's also even with Reese for the most birdies with 11.
In the red for the second consecutive day and tied for second for the second consecutive day is Headrick, who fired a 68 to match his career-best. He sits in the top three in stroke average on par fours and fives and only two players have accumulated more pars than his 26. The sophomore also has six birdies.
Showing marked improvement on Monday was Brady Childers (Granite Falls, N.C.). He improved from a first round 78 to a second round 71, his lowest score as an Eagle. Childers is also in the top 20 in stroke average on par threes and fours and in pars with 24.
"I'm impressed with [Reese, Forster and Headrick]," said Wylie. "They're very experienced and talented, but I'm particularly pleased with Brady. He birdied his last hole to get to one-under. As a freshman who'd never done that before, he came through in a clutch situation. Once you know you can do that, it's a big breakthrough."
Anthony Marcinelli (Knoxville, Tenn.) is tied for 33rd at +8 after he left the course with day two 77. Also making the rounds was Will Hurt (Powell, Tenn.), who is in the field as an individual and he is even with five golfers for 27th with a seven-over 151. The highlight of his day was an eagle he collected, one of three that were recorded on the day.
The Eagles will try and grab their first victory of the season on Tuesday during the final round of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, which is set to start at 9 a.m. For a recap, as well as results from Sevierville, visit cneagles.com.
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