SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – After spending most of Sunday at the top of the leaderboard, Carson-Newman sits in second-place at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, led by a career-low round of 67 for Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) at the Sevierville Golf Club's River Course.
Carson-Newman shot a plethora of birdies in the round to sit two shots shy of first-place through the first 18 holes with a 281. Each Eagle carded at least a pair of birdies on the day en route to 22 for the round. The team was over-par for 16 holes with three Eagles landing in the red through the first round for top-15 positions.
"Strong start today for the Eagles," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "After a rusty start to the season, we knew we could play like this and we expect to continue to play like this. Solid play from everyone, one through five. I'm very pleased with Jake Mynatt's round and a really great round for Alex Hodge after a terrible start."
Mynatt alone accounted for a team-high seven birdies in his five-under opening round. His 67 bests his previous career-low of 69 that he carded once in each of the last two seasons. He now sits in a 19-way tie for the 10th lowest single-round score in event history.
Among C-N players in the BNI field, Mynatt's 67 marks the lowest single-round for C-N since the 2018 showing when Tom Forster carded a 67 in the third round and a 65 in the second round.
The junior was two-over through the front-nine Sunday with a trio of birdies and a bogey on the par-3 9th-hole. He opened the back-nine with three birdies in a span of four holes before closing the day with another birdie and bogey. He was one shot shy of the lead by the end of Sunday.
Two shots behind Mynatt was Alex Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) in a tie for eighth at 3-under. He started his day with a double-bogey and a bogey out the gate but fired three birdies before the turn to get back to even. He carded three more birdies in the back-nine to get to a 69 for the round. The senior was the only Eagle to go without a hole over par in the final nine holes of the day. Both Hodge and Mynatt had the best back-nine showings for C-N at 3-under for the stretch.
Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.) checked in with a share of 13th through Sunday with a 1-under 71, matching his lowest round of the season. The junior was even by the afternoon on two birdies and bogeys but was able to overshadow a bogey on the par-4 14th with two more birdies in the back nine.
Three shots behind Collins was Jonathan Nielsen (Hørsholm, Denmark), tied for 44th at 2-over. The freshman was on-par for all but one of the holes in the front-nine, shooting for birdie on the par-5 7th, a hole that all but one of the Eagles birdied in the round. He went 3-over in the back-nine on a pair of bogeys, a double-bogey and a birdie for a 74.
Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) turned in his second-highest single-round score in three appearances at the BNI with a 75 on Sunday for a tie at 53rd. The senior had a single birdie early in the front-nine that he followed with four bogeys. He stayed even for the back-nine on a pair of birdies and bogeys to go 3-over on the day. He carded a team-high six bogeys for the round.
Morehead State leads the pack after day one, two shots ahead of C-N with a 9-under opening round of 279. Hosting Tennessee Tech went into the clubhouse two shots behind C-N in third at 5-under. Findlay, who is ranked at No. 7 and 10 in the Golfstat and Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll among Division II teams, goes into the second round in fourth at 4-under.
Tusculum's Dominic Barron Holden and Morehead State's Joe Muschong tied for the top spot in the field through the first round at 6-under. That duo and Mynatt lead the rest of the field by a single shot with a four-way tie for fourth following behind them.
Carson-Newman's second round of the Intercollegiate will begin at 11:50 a.m. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat throughout the entire day.
