WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Justin LaRue has been sublime all season the links for Longwood men's golf, but he may have just played two of his finest rounds on the course on Monday.
The junior was the only player in the field to post two scores below 70 on a cold, windy day, and he leads the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate by three strokes, at seven under (-7), while leading Longwood into third in the standings in the 12 team field.
His two-round total of 135 ranks as the third-lowest 36-hole total in team history.
RESULTS:
Golden Horseshoe Gold Course
Williamsburg, Va.
Par 71, 6,817 Yard
Team
3. Longwood: 293-287—580 (+12)
Individual
1.
Justin LaRue: 68-67—135 (-7)
T13.
Scott Jordan: 73-72—145 (+3)
T15.
Nick Rakes: 71-75—146 (+4)
*31.
Zane Moore: 76-74—150 (+8)
T46.
Willie Hoover: 81-73-154 (+12)
T65.
Logan Hooper: 81-78—159 (+17)
*Competed as an individual
NOTABLES:
Longwood sits third at the event, three shots back of Princeton. The Lancers shaved six shots off their opening round score to climb up a spot into third with a 287. The 287 was the second-lowest round in the field, with only Princeton's 276 being lower.
LaRue had plenty to do with it. He racked up 11 birdies, good for second in the field, while also putting home 22 pars. He excelled on Par 4s, posting a tournament best five-under scoreline.
He was solid in the opening round, but he elevated to a higher level in round two. Despite the difficult conditions, LaRue notched seven birdies in the second round.
He holds a three-shot lead over second place with one round to play.
Scott Jordan also pieced together two solid rounds thanks to strong work on Par 5s. The junior fired an eagle and averaged a birdie on Par 5s on the day.
In addition, Jordan, who is tied for 13
th, had eight birdies over the two rounds, and he sits one shot back from climbing into the top 10.
Nick Rakes is tied for 15
th, and he opened the day with an even-par 71. He led Longwood and was second in the 77-player field.
Zane Moore shaved a pair of strokes off his opening round score to tie for 31
st while competing as an individual.
Willie Hoover cut eight strokes from his opening round score to move into the top 50, and
Logan Hooper had an eagle in the second round, one of the team's two on the day.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"It looked like a great day from indoors looking out, but it was a brutal day to play," said Longwood Head Coach
Kevin Fillman. "'Brisk' is how I guess I would describe it. Cold, cold wind can really beat you up over 11 or so hours, so, from that standpoint, I'm happy with how we hung in there and did what we had to do to keep ourselves in the golf tournament."
"Most holes played with big crosswinds, which made controlling shots very difficult," Fillman added. "Overall, outside of a few occasions, I thought we did as good a job as anybody of getting the ball into positions we could go play from next."
"Obviously, Justin was outstanding," Fillman said. "The Gold Course typically doesn't give up many birdies even in good weather, so to make the number he made in today's conditions is pretty amazing. We definitely have a chance tomorrow, but we're going to have to take it. Our plan will be to clean up the mistakes that cost us shots today and to go be aggressive with every play we make. It should be fun."
UP NEXT:
Longwood plays the third and final round on Tuesday morning. They have one tournament remaining before the Big South Championship in less than a month.
#GoWood #HorsePower
