Destin, Fla. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s golf team sits in eighth place after the second day of competition at the 2013 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships being held at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The Gusties shot a 302 on the second day, bringing their total to 598 (+26) through 36 holes.
“We got off to a great start, but had some holes in the middle that we struggled on,” said Head Coach Scott Moe. “We need to sharpen up our game and do better tomorrow. We’re in a good position but we need to come out firing on all cylinders and put together a good round tomorrow. That will be key in putting us in position to make a run on the final day.”
Transylvania and Texas-Tyler share the lead after two rounds with team scores of 579 (+7). Methodist rounds out the top three in third at 585 (+13).
After shooting the first round on the narrow fairways of the Links Golf Club, the Gusties played the more wide-open Raven Golf Club on Wednesday. The Raven has a rating of 73.8 with a tournament yardage of 6,854 yards.
Leading the Black and Gold on the second day was junior Tyler McMorrow (St. Cloud, Minn.). McMorrow shot one-over-par through the front nine before kicking off the back nine with three straight birdies. Although he was three-under heading into the final two holes, McMorrow bogeyed and double bogeyed the last two holes, respectively, to finish one-over par with a 72. McMorrow is currently tied for 23rd overall with a two-day 148 (+5) heading into day three.
“It was a battle today,” said Tyler McMorrow following the round. “After a hot start it was an absolute grind. The pins were tough but we made some putts to save a lot of pars.”
Behind McMorrow was Coby Rowley (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.). Rowley, who led the Gusties with an even-par 72 on the first day, shot a four-over 75 today. Rowley kept to the script and shot an even 35 on the front nine then went four-over on the back with a 40. Rowley is currently the top-ranked Gustie after 36 holes, sitting in 19th with a four-over-par 147.
Andrew Oakes (Jr., Hermantown, Minn.) and Alex Kolquist (Sr., Hermantown, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’s top four. Oakes shot a five-over 76, while Kolquist fired an eight-over 79. Despite being five-over through the first three holes and finishing the front nine four-over, Oakes was able to shoot one-over on the back nine to give him the 76. Kolquist had trouble bouncing back from a five-over showing through the front nine. He was three-over on the back to end up with a 79. Oakes sits in 42nd with a two-day 151 (+8), and Kolquist sits in 43rd with a 152 (+9).
“Definitely didn’t play ourselves out of it, and we’re still in position to make a run at it, ” said a still optimistic and enthusiastic McMorrow. “If we get hot and our birdie putts start to go, we can certainly post some low scores over the next two days. There is no doubt we need to play better, but I have confidence we can improve tomorrow and play ourselves back into it.”
The Gusties will be back on the Raven Course tomorrow morning for a 9:40 a.m. tee time. For complete results and tee times for tomorrow, please follow the link below.
http://golfstatresults.com/public/static/tee_times_4063.html