SALEM, S.C. – Scott Jordan is a closer. The sophomore tore through the back nine at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls and sits in sole possession of second place at the NCAA Salem Regional among 75 golfers.
 
Jordan posted the team's best postseason round with an eight-under 64. He started strong and was two-under through nine holes before ripping off four birdies and an eagle in the final nine holes.
 
The 64 was one of the team's best rounds in program history. It was just one stroke shy of the program record for a single round (63), set back in 2011 by Dillon Jensen, and it was only the third 64 in team history.

"I didn't see Scott play too much," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "Part of that was by design after I heard other people talking about some things. It's kind of like you want to stay away from the pitcher when he's got the no-no going. Scott's one of those guys who can, obviously, get it going, but he likes to take care of himself. He's not opposed to shaking me off at other times too. So I knew that he would be able to handle himself today."

Jordan did just that, and his round led the Lancers into a tie for 12^th with San Diego State, who came in as one of top 25 teams in the nation. The Lancers are just one stroke back from being in the top 10 and six back from fifth. The top five teams qualify for the national final on May 26-31 in Scottsdale, and the top individual qualifier that is not a member of those teams also qualifies.
 
Longwood's team score of 284, good for four-under par, was the team's best opening round in a tournament this year, and it tied the team's best round of the season relative to par overall.
 
For the Lancers, the run continues a strong stretch of play that has seen the team finish in the top five in every single tournament in the spring. They capped it with a Big South Championship title to earn the chance at a regional for the first time since 2007.

"Our goal coming down here is to play as well as we possibly can and beat as many teams as we possibly can," said Fillman. "We're kind of playing with house money here this week. For us to go out there and be free and let things go a little bit. One thing we always want to do is be committed to what we're doing and play aggressively. We did a pretty good job of that after the start today."
 
The team shook off a slow start in the opening few holes and settled in amid a field that features eight teams in the top 50 in the nation. Longwood was fourth in the field on Par 5s, shooting nine-under as a team.
 
The Lancers did so thanks to a trio of eagles, with Daniel George firing two eagles and Jordan adding one of his own.
 
George continued his recent stretch of strong play and shot a two-under 70 to finish tied for 27^th in the field. He was the only player in the field with multiple eagles.
 
The senior, much like the sophomore Jordan, closed well with a solid back nine. He had an eagle on the 10^th hole at the turn, and he capped the day with a tap-in for eagle on the 18^th hole.

"I thought we started out a little tight, maybe had a little bit of nerves," Fillman said. "But we recovered from that and played some good golf. We committed to some things that we wanted to do, and we played aggressively. Those are two things that we always want to do."
 
Justin LaRue and Nick Rakes both bounced back from a slow start on the front nine. The due each posted two birdies in their final four holes to fire matching 75s, and the pair are tied for 59^th place.
 
Brendan Dunphy shot a 78 to finish in a tie for 70^th.
 
Now, Longwood will run it back for round two on Tuesday, May 16.

"First of all, we find out what Scott did, what he ate, and everyone else does the same thing," Fillman added with a smile about how his team will prepare for tomorrow. "But honestly, we are going to do the same thing we would do at any other tournament. We're going to try to work on a couple of things right now that we may not have done very well today. Make them and hopefully get those on the golf course in better shape tomorrow. Then we will try to go post a low score, add them up, and see where we are at the end."

The Lancers begin teeing off at 9:50 a.m. and are staggered for the next 45 minutes, with the final tee time at 10:34 a.m. Live stats are available on golfstat.com.

SCORES:
The Cliffs at Keowee Falls
NCAA Salem Regional
Par 72, 7,126 Yards
Salem, S.C.
 
1. Arkansas: 266 (-22)
2. New Mexico: 272 (-16)
3. North Carolina: 273 (-15)
4. Northern Illinois: 275 (-13)
5. George Tech: 278 (-10)
6. Georgia Southern: 279 (-9)
7. Texas A&M: 281 (-7)
8. Clemson: 282 (-6)
T9. Furman: 283 (-5)
T9. Purdue: 283 (-5)
T9. Middle Tennessee State: 283 (-5)
T12. Longwood: 284 (-4)
T12. San Diego State: (-4)
14. Long Island: 308 (+20)
 
Individual
Longwood
2. Scott Jordan: 64 (-8)
T27. Daniel George: 70 (-2)
T59. Justin LaRue: 75 (+3)
T59. Nick Rakes: 75 (+3)
T70. Brendan Dunphy: 78 (+6)
 
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