CONOVER, N.C. – A standout day from Tom Forster (Oundle, England) helped the sophomore to close out Monday in a tie for first while the No. 20 Eagles sit at in tie for eighth-place through the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's South/Southeast Regional at the Rock Barn Country Club.
As a team, Carson-Newman shot 12-over to card a 296 through the first 18 holes of the tournament. The Eagles tied for second in the field on birdies with 15 and tied for fourth in the field on Par 3 shooting with a 3.15 clip, shooting +3 on those holes.
Head coach Randy Wylie's crew is tied with No. 19 Young Harris and fellow South Atlantic Conference team No. 18 Lincoln Memorial.
"Tom played very well, very excited about his great round today," Wylie said. "The rest of the team was not too good. We have to play better as a team. Tom carried us today. The other guys need to step up tomorrow."
Forster started the day with a +1 score at the turn with a birdie and two bogeys. In the back nine, he shot lights out going for par on four holes with the rest coming out as birdies to put him at four-under for the day with a 67.
The sophomore was the best Par 5 shooting player in the field on Monday with a three-under showing. His six birdies were the second-most in the field and his two-under performance on Par 3 holes also placed him in a tie for second-best in the first round.
The best start of the day for C-N came from Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) who shot back-to-back birdies on the first two holes followed by two bogeys to be even through the front nine. The freshman went three-over in the back nine to land in a tie for 35th with a three-over score of 74.
Anthony Marcinelli (Knoxville, Tenn.) carded a +3 showing in the front nine to open the day thanks to a trio of bogeys. A double bogey on the 10th hole commenced a back nine that saw the junior go three-over with a pair of birdies and bogeys carded thrice for a six-over 77, enough for a tie at 75th.
Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) was one-over in the morning with two birdies and three bogeys. The back nine was not as friendly for the junior as he shot a pair of triple bogeys with a bogey and birdie that left him at +7 on Monday for a tie at 82nd.
The final Eagle on the leaderboard was Alex Hutson (Newport, Tenn.) in a tie for 95th with an 80. He opened the day at eight-over in the front half of the course with four bogeys and a pair of double bogeys. The junior saw an upswing in the back half despite starting with a double bogey on the 10th. He followed that with seven pars and a birdie for a nine-over score through the first 18 holes.
Forster and Lynn's Manuel Torres hold a one-stroke lead over Chandler Blanchet, Golfstat's third-best player in the nation, who is currently at third in the tournament with a three-under score of 68.
No. 1 West Florida sits at the top of the team leaderboard as the only team to shoot under par at -2 with a 282. No. 6 Lynn was even on Monday for second place followed by No. 5 Barry at third, three-over par.
The second day of the regional commences on Tuesday morning at with the Eagles teeing off at 8:30 a.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the live scoring provided by Golfstat.
