No. 2 Nighthawks Lead Intercollegiate At Nemacolin In Round Two, Play Halted Due To Darkness
FARMINGTON, Pa. – The No. 2 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team leads the way at the Intercollegiate at Nemacolin after day one in the final event of the fall. At eight-under-par, the Nighthawks sit ahead of No. 7 Grand Valley State and No. 23 Missouri St. Louis each of which are a shot behind UNG. Host Findlay is in fourth place at four-over.
Play was halted due to darkness prior to the completion of round two. Most players in the nine-team, 48-player field had anywhere from four to five holes remaining in their second round at the 7,118-yard Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Round two will resume Tuesday morning prior to play in the final round three.
Despite holding the lead after roughly 30 holes of golf, the day did not start pretty for head coach Bryson Worley's squad.
In round one, the only golfer to finish under par was graduate student Jack Vajda who completed the first 18 holes at two-under-par at the par-72 Nemacolin. As a team, UNG combined to shoot five-over in the first round which is far and away its worst round of the year thus far.
Yet, the platoon woke up in round two.
One player who woke up in a major way was sophomore Colby Bennett. After shooting a 75 in round one, Bennett exploded as he attacked the course in the second round. Through 13 holes, Bennett raced to six-under-par with six birdies and zero bogeys.
Starting on hole 17, Bennett birdied the par-3 17th and par-4 first holes to quickly get to two-under in the second round. He recorded three straight birdies at holes 6, 7 and 8 to get to five-under before a final birdie at par-4 10th hole.
With five holes remaining in round two, Bennett sits in a tie for third place at three-under in total after climbing a startling 18 spots between rounds one and two. That 18-place improvement was the best of any golfer in the field on day one.
Joining Bennett with superb rounds before the darkness were seniors Ethan Day and Hughes Threlkeld.
Aided by an eagle at the 504-yard, par-5 5th hole, both Day and Threlkeld ended round two at four-under. Each posted four birdies to go along with their eagle before the round was halted. As both players also shot a two-over 74 in round one, they're in a tie for sixth place going into the final day of the tournament on Tuesday.
As a team. UNG improved by 18 shots from round one to round two, ending the second round at 13-under before being called into the clubhouse. All nine teams will complete round two on Tuesday morning before teeing off in round three at 1 p.m.
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