Mercer University
The Brickyard Collegiate
Reimers Leads Mercer Charge in Round Two of Brickyard Collegiate
10/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MACON, Ga. – Sophomore Hans Reimers fired a 3-under 69 to lead a Mercer charge in Saturday's second round of the 2011 Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championship at the Brickyard at Riverside. Reimers' stellar effort helped the Bears jump from 10th place to fourth place on the team leaderboard with a team score of 289.
Georgia Tech held its lead on the field, booking a team score of 285 on Saturday. The Yellowjackets (565) are 13 strokes ahead of second place North Florida (578). Florida State is third with a two-day total of 580.
"I'm proud of our guys and very happy for them," Mercer head coach Steve Bradley said. "I know that [assistant coach Jacob Davidson] and I believe in them. Putting a round together like this helps them believe in themselves.""
Mercer's team score marked the program's best single round effort in the five-year history of the event. The Bears' 289 was the second-best team score on Saturday, topped only by Georgia Tech's 285.
After 36 holes of competition, Mercer is ahead of six teams ranked among Golfstat's top-50 programs. No. 22 Georgia, No. 42 Virginia Tech, No. 12 Chattanooga, No. 50 Texas-Arlington, No. 32 Mississippi and No. 41 Oklahoma are all looking up at the Bears entering Sunday's final round.
Mercer is also ahead of two-time defending national champions Augusta State, the College of Charleston, Colorado State, Air Force and Gonzaga.
Reimers' effort on Saturday helped the Albany, Oregon native jump from a tie for 25th place to eighth place overall. With 18 holes to play, he is just one stroke off the pace Georgia Tech's Ollie Schniederjans, Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger and Georgia's Brian Carter for fifth place.
Reimers' classmate James Beale also carded a sub-par round on Saturday, finishing at 1-under 71. Beale now sits in a tie with seven others for 27th place overall.
Also in the eight-way tie for 27th place is Mercer senior Josh Cone, who fired a 75 on Saturday.
Junior Alex Street signed for a 77 on Saturday after collecting 11 pars and a birdie.
Junior Thomas Holmes improved upon his first round total by nine strokes, finishing Saturday's action with a 2-over 74. Holmes is now tied for 71st place individually.
The final round of the 2011 Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championship tees off at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
"Tomorrow we just need to stay relaxed," Bradley said. "We want to just go out there and take one shot at a time and have the same mentality we did today."
