SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.) were in the red for a second-straight round on Monday as Carson-Newman moved down two spots to fourth at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at 4-under.
Collins had the best day among the Eagles in the field with a 3-under 69 with Mynatt checking in one shot behind him on the day.
As a whole, Carson-Newman was 10 shots higher by the end of Monday compared to where it finished Sunday, adding on 10 shots for a 3-over 291. The Eagles are 4-under heading into the final round with a 572 through 36-holes, sitting six shots out of first. They carded 14 birdies in the round with 18 bogeys and two holes for double-bogey or greater, the same tally as Sunday's round.
"Eagles struggled a bit on the back nine today as it got really windy and we didn't handle it well," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "Try to get it mentally right for a big run tomorrow. Will Collins and Jake Mynatt did a really nice job today."
Mynatt moved up one spot on Monday to tie for second at 7-under for the event. He was three shots higher in the second round with a 70, pushing his 36-hole total to 137. The junior was 3-under by the time he reached the turn for the day. He opened the back nine with his fourth birdie of the day but followed it with a pair of bogeys.
Three shots behind Mynatt sits Collins in a tie for sixth at four-under, jumping up seven spots from Sunday. The junior not only led C-N in the round but he was the only Eagle to not shoot above par, going for par on all but three of his holes. He birded those three holes, two of them coming on par-5s, to go 3-under. Collins is just one-shot shy of netting his first top-five finish at C-N since his second-place showing at the 2018 Walters State Fall Classic.
Alex Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) slid 15 spots down the leaderboard into a tie for 23rd after a 4-over round. The senior was even in the front nine on a trio of birdies and bogeys before a triple-bogey on the par-4 14th elevated his score for the round to a 76, seven-shots higher than Sunday. He heads into the final round with a 1-over 145.
The next closest Eagle after Monday was Jonathan Nielsen (Hørsholm, Denmark), checking in with a share of 45th on a 4-over outing in the second round. His 76 came with six bogeys, four of those on par-4 holes. He birdied the exact same holes from the first round, those being the par-5 7th and 10th holes. He holds a 150 total through 36 rounds, landing him at 6-over.
Trailing the freshman by three shots is Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.), tied for 59th with a 9-over 153. The senior went 6-over in the round, adding three strokes onto his opening-round score. He went over par on six holes including a double-bogey on a par-4 to start the dat. He notched a single birdie in the round on the par-4 11th.
UT-Martin made a four-spot lead up to the top of the leaderboard with the lowest round of the day on a 281. The Skyhawks go into the final round at 10-under with a 566 total. Morehead State, the leader from Sunday, is one-shot behind in second at 9-under. They hold a four-shot lead on third-place and host team Tennessee Tech at 5-under.
On the player side, UT Martin's Nick Wolf leads the way at 9-under with a 135. Mynatt is tied with Morehead State's Joe Muschong at second.
One more round lies ahead of the field on Tuesday from the River Course. C-N hits the links starting at 11:30 a.m. Golfstat will one again carry live scoring throughout the round.
