DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brendan Dunphy and Nick Rakes once again topped the leaderboard for Longwood men's golf, and the duo have the Lancers up near the top of the standings at the Sacred Heart Spring Invite after the opening round on Thursday. Dunphy is tied for the tournament lead, Rakes is in third, and the Lancers are tied for second out of 11 teams.
 
SCORES:
LPGA International-Jones Course
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Par 72, 6,959 yards
 
T2. Longwood: 288 (E)
 
T1. Brendan Dunphy: 68 (-4)
3. Nick Rakes: 69 (-3)
T28. Daniel George: 75 (+3)
T35. Scott Jordan: 76 (+4)
T44. Zane Moore: 77 (+5)
 
T10. Justin Larue: 70 (-2)
T25. Christian Michael: 74 (+2)
T28. William Hoover: 75 (+3)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Fresh off tying for second on a different course at the LPGA International earlier this week, Longwood found itself in a similar spot after 18 holes on Thursday. The Lancers are four strokes back of Purdue Fort Wayne in first place and tied with Howard in second.
 
Dunphy proved he was comfortable once again, as the senior ripped off three birdies in his first five holes, and he was three under after nine. He tied a career best with his 68 to shoot four-under par.
 
The senior finished with five birdies and 12 pars, and he is tied for the tournament lead with Purdue Fort Wayne's Nick Holder.
 
Meanwhile, Rakes pieced together a strong round as well to hold sole possession of third place at three under par. He had one of six eagles among the entire field. He shot below 70 for the fourth time this season. The junior finished with four birdies and 10 pars.
 
Daniel George tied for 28^th after posting a trio of birdies and 10 pars to shoot a 75. Scott Jordan was a little up and down on the day to card a 76 and finish tied for 35^th, and Zane Moore tallied a 77 to close the team scoring.
 
The Lancers also had three players compete as individuals, and Justin Larue ended the day tied for 10^th after posting a 70. He excelled on the back nine and had seven pars, a birdie and an eagle to go shoot three-under.
 
Christian Michael shot a 74 after posting three birdies on the back nine of the course to finish in a tie for 25^th. William Hoover hit a an eagle, Longwood's third, on the back nine to card an 75 on the day and finish in a tie for 28^th in the 76-player field.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Today was a perfect day to play, and, even though it's the same site as the course from earlier in the week, I would say this is a much more getable golf course," said Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "Both Brendan and Nick did a pretty good job doing just that for most of the day. We had some others who had opportunities to get in with quality numbers as well but just didn't quite finish it off. That's pretty much where we were earlier in the week as well. We're going to have to start doing a better job of closing rounds, and, hopefully, we'll begin doing so tomorrow. If so, we have as good a chance as anybody.
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 
Longwood was second-best in the field on Par 3s and Par 5s on average score. The team averaged a 3.20 and a 4.70 respectively.
 
The five golfers who scored for the team portion of the event for the Lancers totaled 16 birdies, good for second in the field.
 
Michael and Dunphy led Longwood and the field in average score on Par 3s (2.75).
 
Dunphy also tied for the best average score on Par 4s (3.80) in the field.
 
Larue was tied for fourth in the field on average score on Par 4s (3.90).
 
Larue was tied for the best average score on Par 5s (4.25) in the field.
 
Both Hoover and Larue were tied for fifth in the field with 13 pars apiece.
 
Dunphy was tied for second in the field with five birdies.
 
Rakes, Larue and Hoover each had an eagle. That accounted for half of the eagles in the field.
 
UP NEXT:
 
The final round will be played on Friday morning, with tee times set for 8 a.m.
 
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