UCO must rally to reach match play portion of D-II Championship, SNU’s Hearne climbs leaderboard
CONOVER, N.C. (May 19) – Central Oklahoma fell five spots in the team standings despite a trio of 73s on the second day of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships here Tuesday.
The Bronchos dropped from fourth to ninth with a 581 total after shooting a 10-over-par 294 at the 7,021-yard, par-71 Rock Barn Golf and Spa. South Carolina-Aiken leads at 567, followed by St. Leo (568), Nova Southeastern (570), Lynn and Central Missouri (both at 573).
The final round of stroke play starts at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the top eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to the match play portion of the tournament. UCO is one shot out of eighth and two out of seventh.
Eric Kline, Russ Purser and Logan Gray all shot 73 for the Bronchos, while Eli Armstrong and Cody Troutman both had 75s.
The Bronchos started their round on the back nine and Purser birdied No. 18 to make the turn at even-par 36 before coming back with seven pars and two bogeys for a back-nine 37.
Gray had an early double bogey and was still two-over after seven holes before ending his round with 11 consecutive pars in following an opening-round 71 with the 73 that has him tied for 17th in the individual standings.
Kline double bogeyed his second hole of the day and then reeled off seven pars in a row to go out in 38. He birdied two of the first four holes on the back nine to get back to even-par before making back-to-back bogeys and then finishing with three straight pars.
Armstrong overcame a pair of double bogeys in his round of 75, while Troutman bounced back from a front-nine 39 with a final-hole birdie capping off a closing 36. Complete results are at www.golfstat.com.
Four birdies helped propel Southern Nazarene’s Michael Hearne up 17 spots in the individual standings into a tie for fourth
Hearne was just one of six players who fired a round under 70 with a 2-under par 69 at Rock Barn Golf & Spa. Starting on hole 10, Hearne took a bogey on his second hole of the day at 11, but then had four birdies on holes 17, 3, 5 and 8 to get to 3-under. Hearne finished with a bogey, but shot the second lowest round of the day and is just three shots off the lead at 140.
St. Leo’s Ryan Gendron fired the lowest round of the day with a 67 and moved into a tie for the overall lead. He is tied with Central Missouri’s Sam Midgal who had the lead through round one and shot an even-par 71 to close his second round at 137. South Carolina-Aiken’s Brandon Robinson-Thompson is third at 139 after shooting a 68 in the second round.
Hearne is part of a three-way tie for fourth all at 140 with Simon Fraser’s Chris Crisologo and North Alabama’s Forrest Knight. Just five strokes separate the top 13 players and just six strokes separate the top 17.
Hearne will tee off at 10:49 a.m. (CDT) Wednesday from hole one in his final round of the NCAA National Championship.