COLUMBUS, Ga. – A three-under performance by Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) helped No. 16 Carson-Newman to sit in second place after the first two rounds of the Aflac/Cougar Invitational on Monday at the Columbus Country Club.
As a whole, the Eagles were one-over through two rounds with a 569 total. By the midway point of the day, they held control of the leaderboard with a 282 total before a 287 in the second round, its new lowest and second lowest team round scores, respectively. They tied with Lenoir-Rhyne for shots on par at 116 while tying with No. 5 Florida Tech for the second-best par-4 average at 11-over on such holes.
Through its first round of the Cougar Invitational, @cnmensgolf sits at the top of the leaderboard at two-under! Second round to begin soon.
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 24, 2018
��: https://t.co/Mmo20Obdpr pic.twitter.com/7NVqRGyecx
Headrick landed in a three-way tie for fourth after shooting two-under and one-under par in the first and second rounds respectively. He shot a total of eight birdies on Monday, the most of all C-N participants.
The senior also tied for fifth in the field for par-4 holes at one-under on such holes.
"Jake Headrick played really well," coach Randy Wylie said. "The rest of the team did a good job grinding with everybody contributing. Nice to play two good, solid rounds against this super good-quality field."
Tom Forster (Oundle, England) saw a four-shot improvement from the first to second round, helping him tie for 17th. The junior carded one of just five eagles seen by the entire field in the first round with a two-shot outing on the par-5 17th. He was two-over through the first round thanks to a birdie, bogey and double bogey in the front nine of the round. Despite shooting a pair of bogeys in the second round, he cleaned those up with four birdies to sit even with par heading into Tuesday.
Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the best Eagle on the first day on par-3 holes, tying for fifth overall with an even average. He was on par for 26 holes between the first and second rounds, also tying for fifth. He closed out Monday at three over after an even 71 in the first round, his lowest round score yet in his career, followed by a three-over 74.
The final three Eagles in the field landed in a tie for 48th by the end of Monday, all of them shooting six-over in the first two rounds for a 148 total.
In the first event of his sophomore season, Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) was three-over to start the day due to four bogeys and a double bogey on three birdies for a 74. He mirrored that performance in the second round.
Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.) was one of two Eagles to shoot under par during the first round as him and Headrick both carded two-under showings. His 69 in the first round marked his lowest single round score through his first four rounds of collegiate play. The second round provided struggles for the freshman as he shot eight-over par.
Playing as the individual for Carson-Newman, Fintan McKenna (Aberdeen, Scotland) started the event with a +7 showing in the first round with a team-high seven bogeys. He cleaned up his game in the second round by shaving eight shots off of his score to go one-under in the round.
Valdosta State holds a one-shot advantage over the Eagles heading into the final round with 568 through two rounds. One stroke behind C-N is No. 5 Florida Tech with a 570 total.
Montevallo's Brady Carman sits atop the leaderboard heading into the final round at five under. One shot behind him is Lenoir-Rhyne's Carlos Lasso and No. 8 Limestone's Zach Bishop.
The invitational wraps up on Tuesday with one final round of play. The final round begins at 8:30 a.m. with the Eagles starting their tee times at 10 a.m. Fans are encouraged to follow along with the live scoring available after every three holes.