BURLINGTON, N.C. – Longwood men's golf sits sixth after the first two rounds at the Phoenix Invitational, hosted by Elon at the Alamance Country Club.
 
Justin LaRue fired off matching 69s over his 36 holes to lead the Lancers, and he is tied for seventh in the 106-player field.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS:
 
The Lancers are sixth out of 18 teams, and the Lancers have four players in the top 35 of the field. The Lancers are five strokes back of a top five spot and only seven strokes back from breaking into the top three.
 
LaRue carded seven birdies in his opening round while battling up and down play. His two-under 69 was the best mark on the team, and he matched it with a more consistent second round that saw him post three birdies.
 
David LaFreniere put together a 71-73 to finish the day two-over par. He was even after 18 holes behind two birdies, and he added two more in the second round. He is tied for 25^th.
 
Nick Fleming and Scott Jordan are tied for 35^th. Fleming came out with a one-under 70 thanks to four birdies in his first 18 holes, but his second-round score jumped by five strokes. Meanwhile, Jordan fired a 73-72 over his two rounds to finish the day three-over. He ripped off two eagles in his final round of the day.
 
Hunter Swidzinski posted matching 75s to tie for 74^th on the day. Cameron Hardison, competing as an individual, posted an opening round 76 before shaving off four strokes for a final-round 72.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
We definitely took some lumps today, but we were able to get back up and make something good happen much of the time," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "I do believe we got a little tired late in the day, and the rush to beat darkness over the final couple holes didn't help anybody in the entire field either."
 
"As is the case with any Donald Ross layout, putting the ball in good spots is the key to scoring," said Fillman. "When the ball ends up in the wrong spot, the player gets Donald Ross'd, so to speak, and it's very difficult to make anything good happen from there. We can still go out there and beat a lot of teams tomorrow, but we're going to have to emphasize getting the ball to places we can play from a higher percentage of the time than we did today."
 
FULL RESULTS:
 
6. Longwood: 283-289—572 (+4)
 
T7. Justin LaRue: 69-69—138 (-4)
T25. David LaFreniere: 71-73—144 (+2)
T35. Nick Fleming: 70-75—145 (+3)
T35. Scott Jordan: 73-72—145 (+3)
*T60. Cameron Hardison: 76-72—148 (+3)
T74. Hunter Swidzinski: 75-75—150 (+8)
*competed as an individual
 
UP NEXT:
 
The Lancers play the final round of the tournament on Tuesday morning.
 
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