SALEM, S.C. – Longwood men's golf battled a tough course at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls in the second round of the NCAA Salem Regional on Tuesday.
The trio of
Scott Jordan,
Nick Rakes and
Justin LaRue all were within two shots of each other to lead Longwood, and the Lancers are 13
th with 18 holes to play.
Through two rounds, Longwood has posted a 284-302—586 (+10). The Lancers are seven shots back of Purdue in 12
th after battling on a difficult course that harshly punishes even small mistakes.
"Obviously, we didn't do the things that we had intended to do," said Longwood Head Coach
Kevin Fillman. "I'm not exactly sure why that was the case. We just seemed on edge and had a lot of anxiety from early on in the round. Hole two threw us for a loop with a very difficult hole location, and we didn't play the hole very well. From that point on, we played with a lot of anxiety for whatever reason and never got calmed back down."
Jordan followed up his opening round of 64 with a 74 for a two-round score of 138 (-6). He maintained a spot inside the top 15 and is tied for 13
th. He is ahead of 14 players that are ranked in the top 100 on Golfstat.com.
The sophomore tied for second on the team with a trio of birdies, and he made par in eight of his final nine holes.
Rakes posted the team's best score on the day with a73, and he is tied for 61
st with a two-day score of 75-73—148 (+4). He also had a trio of birdies.
The junior had eight pars and a birdie in his final 11 holes, and he is the team leader with 21 pars through two rounds of golf.
"We played some good stretches of golf," Fillman added. "I think sometimes once you've lost enough shots, it is almost easier, per se, to relax and just play golf. There's just less pressure on that. I know Scott had a tough start, but there's not many people, myself included, who've ever had to play a first hole after posting a 64 the day before. Then he got to hole two, which was just a nasty, nasty hole location, and didn't play that hole very well either. But from that point forward, I thought he recovered and played pretty well again. We just didn't have enough of that from everybody. We had some others who never really recovered from that poor start."
LaRue battled back after a rocky start to the front nine. He tore through the back nine with seven pars and a pair of birdies for a final tally of 75 on the day. His 75 matched his opening day total, and he is tied for 66
th with a 75-75—150 (+6).
On the day, the sophomore led the Lancers with four birdies. He made par or better on every hole on the back nine.
Brendan Dunphy (78-80—158, +14) sits in 73
rd, and
Daniel George (70-84—154, +10) sits in 69
th to round out Longwood's group of five.
The Lancers are back in action for the third and final round of the tournament on Wednesday morning.
"We have to focus on tomorrow being a new day," Fillman said. "We talk about these things all the time: win every shot, win every hole, win every round. Tomorrow's a new round. We want to go win the first shot, then go win the first hole then go win the round. But we have to take it in order and do the things that we're capable of doing and feel a lot better about ourselves going home tomorrow than what we probably feel right now."
Tee times begin at 9:50 a.m. and run through 10:34 a.m. Follow along with hole-by-hole scoring on
golfstat.com.
SCORES:
The Cliffs at Keowee Falls
Salem, S.C.
Par 72, 7,126 Yards
1. Arkansas: 266-271—537 (-39)
2. Georgia Tech: 278-266—544 (-32)
T3. North Carolina: 273-278—551 (-25)
T3. New Mexico: 272-279—551 (-25)
5. Northern Illinois: 275-278—553 (-23)
6. Georgia Southern: 279-279—558 (-18)
7. Clemson: 282-278—560 (-16)
T8. Texas A&M: 281-283—564 (-12)
T8. San Diego State: 284-280—564 (-12)
10. Furman: 283-288—571 (-5)
11. Middle Tennessee State: 283-291—574 (-2)
12. Purdue: 283-296—579 (+3)
13. Longwood: 284-302—586 (+10)
14. Long Island: 308-292—600 (+24)
Individual
T13.
Scott Jordan: 64-74—138 (-6)
T61.
Nick Rakes: 75-73—148 (+4)
T66.
Justin LaRue: 75-75—150 (+6)
69.
Daniel George: 70-84—154 (+10)
73.
Brendan Dunphy: 78-80—158 (+14)
#GoWood #HorsePower
