CONOVER, N.C. – A seven-stroke improvement lifted the No. 20 Eagles up one spot to seventh-place through the second day of the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's South/Southeast Regional at the Rock Barn Country Club on Tuesday.
Carson-Newman is now 18 shots out of first but sits in a spot that is still capable of making the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship final as the top seven teams in the regional will get to move on.
"We have the toughest region," head coach Randy Wylie said. "We are currently beating several teams ranked in the top 10. We have to keep grinding as we are squarely on the bubble. We have some tough guys; tomorrow is going to be a test of their toughness."
As a team, the Eagles now have a 585 total score at 17-over after Tuesday's +5 round of 289.
After carding six birdies in the opening round, Tom Forster (Oundle, England) only had four fall in during the second round, playing a part in his move into a tie for second on the leaderboard. The sophomore started the day going even in the back nine before carding a -1 showing in the afternoon for a round of 70. He is now five-under through 36 holes.
Forster is tied with the No. 8 player in the nation Max O'Hagan of Florida Tech as the best Par 3 golfer in the field at -3. He also sits in a four-way tie for best Par 5 shooter at -4 and is in a three-way tie for most birdies at 10.
"Good play again from Tom," Wylie mentioned. "Mediocre from the rest of the team."
Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) started his day with a birdie on the 10th before a double bogey on the following hole set him back a bit. A birdie and bogey later helped him to stay one-stroke over par before going to the front nine where he shot for even on every hole for a 72 total on Tuesday. The freshman now has a 146 total that is good enough for a tie at 31st heading into the final round.
Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) better his game by five strokes on Tuesday to sit in a tie for 67th, 15 spots higher than where he started the day. He was three over to start the day before heading into the turn thanks to a pair of bogeys, a double bogey and a birdie on 18. In the later part of the day, the junior notched two birdies and a bogey to go one-under, pushing him to a +2 round of 73. He now holds a 151 total at +9.
Anthony Marcinelli (Knoxville, Tenn.) mirrored his Monday score with another 77 on Tuesday, placing him in a tie for 82nd. He was three-over in both the front and back nine with a pair of birdies, double bogeys and four bogey shots.
Tied with Marcinelli is Alex Hutson (Newport, Tenn.), who made a 13 spot move up the leaderboard. He was even through the back nine in the second round thanks to a bogey and birdie. His three bogeys in the front half of the course helped him to take six strokes off of his Monday score for a +3 round of 74 for a 154 total.
The nation's top player in Florida Southern's John VanDerLaan moved into the top spot on the player leaderboard after shooting a 65 on Tuesday. He is now seven-under for the event. Tied with Forster in second is Lincoln Memorial's Sam Broadhurst.
No. 1 West Florida remains the top team, now at one-under par. No. 2 Florida Southern and No. 5 Barry are tied for second at one-over.
The final round of the regional starts Wednesday morning. The Eagles are slated to begin teeing off at noon. Fans are encouraged to follow the live scoring provided by Golfstat.
