KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – With two Eagles in the top 10 of the field, Carson-Newman used back-to-back rounds of 289 to sit in a tie for 11th through the first two rounds at the Queens Invitational.
"Our up and down season has continued, unfortunately," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "While we had some good rounds, we have to find some consistency as a whole squad. Some solid play today from Tom [Forster] and Alex [Hodge], but they can both play better. We need a good final round and are hoping the expected rain misses us."
Carson-Newman sits at 10-over heading into the final day of play with a 578. As a team, C-N fired 33 birdies on the day, sixth-most birdies through 36 holes. It shares 11th on the leaderboard with Wingate.
Alex Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Tom Forster (Oundle, England) pace the group in a tie for 10th at two-under. The pair both fired a 36-hole total of 140 on Monday to be the only Eagles under par.
Hodge used five birdies and bogeys in the first round to stay even at 71 as he turned his attention to the second round. Through the last 18 holes of the day, he fired a 69 with three of his five birdies in the round coming on par-5 holes.
The junior tied for the second-best showing on par 5s with a five-under average while also carding the second-most birdies with 10.
Like his 10th-place counterpart, Forster was also in the red during his second round. The senior carded the second-best morning round among all Eagles with a one-over 72 with five bogeys and four birdies. He carved four strokes off of his score in the afternoon for a three-under 68. His round was highlighted by five birdies, all but one on par-4s.
Fintan McKenna (Aberdeen, Scotland) tied for 61st through the first day at seven-over. The senior opened the day with an even 71 in the first round on a trio of birdies and bogeys. He tacked on seven shots in the final round, mainly due to double-bogeys on a pair of par-5s, to hold a 149.
One shot behind McKenna by the end of the day was Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.), holding a share of 68th on an eight-over 150. He was four-over heading into the afternoon with a 75 in the first round. His day began with a single birdie on five bogeys. The sophomore went for 75 again in the second round, this time with four birdies that were overpowered by two double-bogeys and four bogeys
Despite sitting near the bottom of the field in a tie for 99th, Fergus Robinson (Towcester, England) had the biggest improvement from the first to second rounds, shaving six shots off of his opening round for an 18-over 160. He faced the highest score among all Eagles at 12-over in the morning with an 83. He found one birdie in the first round but added on four bogeys, a trio of double bogeys and a triple on the par-4 10th. The junior bounced back in the afternoon with a trio of birdies on five bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.
No. 3/10 USC Aiken leads the field with a nine-under 552. No. 18/16 Lincoln Memorial is in second at nine-under while No. 2/3 Georgia Southwestern is one-shot behind in third.
USC Aiken also leads on the player leaderboard with Leo Johansson and Leonardo Bono both at eight-under with a 134 total. Georgia Southwestern's Vincent Norman is third at seven-under.
The Invitational rolls on Tuesday with one final round of play beginning at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will once again be provided through BirdieFire.