COLUMBUS, Ga. – Paced by the duo of senior Reece Coleman and junior Calahan Keever, the Anderson University men's golf team is bidding for its second consecutive tournament title after carding a school-record 275 in the second round of the Cougar Invitational, Monday at the Green Island Country Club.
The two-day, 54-hole tournament, which features seven teams in Golfstat's latest national top-25 rankings, is being hosted by Columbus State on a 6,512 yard, par-70 layout.
"I'm really excited by the way the men's team bounced back in the secnd round today by shooting 11 shots better than the 1st round," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "Calahan (Keever) and Reece (Coleman) continue to provide strong rounds for us. Simon (Wright) also added solid rounds to help our cause. Alejandro had a great comeback second round to help us finish today as leaders in a strong field of teams. We will do our best to play steady golf tomorrow and see if we can bring home our second win in as many weeks."
A week after out-dueling West Florida by two shots to win North Georgia's Mizuno Intercollegiate, the Trojans are atop the team leaderboard by eight shots over 25th-ranked Clayton State heading into Tuesday's final 18 holes.
Third-ranked Lee is three shots further back in third place, with Georgia College holding the fourth spot. Sixth-ranked Carson-Newman and Coker are tied for fifth place, while No. 17 Barton is in seventh place.
No. 23 Saint Leo and the host Cougars are deadlocked in eighth place, while 20th-ranked West Georgia, Mississippi College and Valdosta State rounded out the 12-team field.
Clayton State's Felipe Gomez (68-67=135) leads the chase for individual medalist honors by just one stroke over both Coleman and Keever, and leads Lee's Beck Burnette (67-70=137) by a pair of shots.
Coleman carded 11 birdies on the day, including seven during Monday's second round en route to his 5-under-par effort. Keever finished in a tie for first at last week's Mizuno Intercollegiate and parlayed three birdies on the front nine in the opening round, along with four birdies during the second round, into a tie for second place alongside Coleman.
Sophomore Simon Wright is tied for seventh place after carding a pair of birdies in each round – including the par-4 18th hole twice. Freshman Alejandro de Castro is in a three-way tie for 39th, with senior Parker MacDonald sharing the 47th spot.
Tuesday's final round is slated to get underway at 8:30 a.m.
Notables
• AU's second-round 275 was two shots better than the previous school-record 277, which was set in the first round of the 2021 Tennessee River Rumble.
• The Trojans' first-round 286 matched the 13th-best round in program history.
• AU's two-round 561 was just one stroke off the school-record 561, which was set just last week at North Georgia's Mizuno Intercollegiate.
• Reece Coleman's second-round 65 is the third-lowest round in school history, behind just his own 64 (2021 LMU Spring Kickoff) and Adam Sheriff's 64 (2007 LMU Fall Invitational).
• Coleman and Keever's two-round 136s matched the fourth-lowest two-round scores in school history.
• The Trojans have not won more than one tournament in a season since the 2003-04 campaign.
1 Anderson 286 275 561
T2 Reece Coleman 71 65 136
T2 Calahan Keever 69 67 136
T7 Simon Wright 69 73 142
T39 Ajejandro de Castro 81 70 151
T47 Parker MacDonald 77 76 153
Teams Scores
1 Anderson 286 275 561 +1
2 Clayton State 278 291 569 +9
3 Lee 283 289 572 +12
4 Georgia College 289 294 583 +23
T5 Carson-Newman 283 303 586 +26
T5 Coker 288 298 586 +26
7 Barton 295 293 588 +28
T8 Saint Leo 303 288 591 +31
T8 Columbus State 295 296 591 +31
10 West Georgia 294 298 592 +32
11 Miss. College 305 305 610 +50
12 Valdosta State 311 304 615 +55
