GREENWOOD, S.C. – With play suspended due to darkness late in the second round, the nationally top-ranked Anderson men's golf team is in first place at Lander's Bearcat Golf Classic.
The two-day, 54-hole event is being hosted on a par-72, 6,800-yard Greenwood Country Club layout.
"We are excited to be at the top of the leaderboard after falling behind Lander early in the first round," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "In that round we just didn't take advantage of a couple of par-5s and missed a few putts we should have made. I was really proud of the way our men responded in the second round to come from behind and take the lead. Only a few players finished the second round, so hopefully we can finish the round strong tomorrow and play a solid third round to get our sixth win this year."
Anderson and Tusculum both trailed the host Bearcats at the end of the first round, but the Trojans used 27 birdies during the nearly-completed second round to overtake Lander at the top of the leaderboard, with Barton and Clayton State, in third and fourth, respectively. Findlay holds the fifth slot heading into Tuesday, while Newberry is sixth. Coker is in seventh place, with Belmont Abbey and Wingate sharing eighth place.
Lenoir-Rhyne and Lander (B) are tied for 10th place, while West Georgia and Flagler are 12th and 13th, respectively. Tusculum, Erskine, King, Georgia College, Young Harris and North Greenville rounded out the large 19-team field.
Lander's Edward Rahm is at the top of the individual leaderboard after finishing the two rounds with an 8-under 136. He leads Newberry's Patrick Jacobs (66-72-138) by two shots, while AU's Calahan Keever (70-69-139) and the Bearcats' Luke Hammond (70-69-139) are each one shot further back in a tie for third. Lander's Linus Jonsson fired a 6-under 66 in the first round and also shares third place with one hole remaining on his scorecard.
Three additional golfers – including AU freshman Alejandro de Castro - are lurking just four shots behind Rahm. Senior Reece Coleman is in a five-way tie for ninth, while sophomore Simon Wright is tied for 14th. Junior Daniel Coker shares 22nd place, with freshman Sam Norris rounding out the Trojan contingent in a tie for the 64th spot.
The final few groups are expected to begin wrapping up the second round at 8 a.m. Tuesday, and start the third round shortly thereafter.
