ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Paced by sophomore Calahan Keever and junior Reece Coleman's opening round, 1-over-par 73s, the Anderson University men's golf team is tied for ninth place following the first round of the Kick-off Intercollegiate, with second-round play suspended due to darkness.
The two-day, 54-hole tournament, which is being hosted by Lincoln Memorial at the St. Johns Golf and Country Club, is being played on a 7,136 yard, par-72 layout.
"The conditions were really tough this morning, and I was pleased with the way Calahan, Reece, and Simon all fought through the first round," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "They all had solid scores, and were in great position after the first round. Unfortunately, we just didn't have a fourth score to help them, otherwise we could have been in the top-5 easily after the first round."
Barton, Lander, Georgia Southwestern and Limestone are tied atop the crowded leaderboard following the first round, with Coker, King, the host Railsplitters and North Georgia all tied for fifth place. Anderson, Wingate, Newberry and Queens are deadlocked in ninth place, while Valdosta State and Erskine share the 13th slot.
Flagler and Emmanuel are tied for 15th place heading into Tuesday, with Lenoir-Rhyne, Belmont Abbey, North Greenville, Montevallo, Tusculum and Southern Wesleyan rounding out the 22-team field.
Limestone's Kristoffer Larsson is alone at the top of the individual leaderboard after firing a 3-under-par 69, while Lincoln Memorial's Alexei Butchart is one shot off the pace after carding a 2-under 70. North Georgia's Evan Thompson and Wingate's Nick Fleming share third place following first-round 72s.
Coleman and Keever are deadlocked in fifth place, alongside Lander's Maxime Legros, Coker's Killian Ryan and Barton's Bryson Boyette.
AU freshman Simon Wright is in a 12-way tie for 22nd, while juniors Parker MacDonald and Anthony Sutton are tied for 98th place and sophomore Daniel Coker is in 104th place.
"Round two is going pretty good again with Reece, Simon, and Cal," added Neal. "We need to finish tomorrow, and have that fourth score be good as well. As of now Parker and Daniel are in position to do that. Then we just have to go finish the tournament with a really solid third round. If we do that, I believe we can finish top-5 in a great 22-team field, and pick up some much needed region wins. Tomorrow is a big day for us, and I expect the boys to execute and play well. Go Trojans!"
The teams will wrap up the first round and play the full second round on Tuesday.
