Mercer University
Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
Men's Golf Sixth at Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
2/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MOBILE, Ala. – Mercer sophomore James Beale booked scores of 71 and 74 in Monday's opening two rounds of the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. When the day's action concluded at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Course, the Bears had used 579 strokes and were sixth of 15 teams on the leaderboard.
Middle Tennessee State leads the 15-team field with a score of 570. South Alabama and Wake Forest are five strokes behind MTSU, while Memphis (577) and Illinois (578) round out the top five.
Mercer shot 290 on the first 18 holes and shaved a stroke off that total in the second round. Entering Tuesday, the Bears hold a single-stroke edge on Vanderbilt and four-stroke lead on Mississippi State.
"The guys played fairly well today and all five contributing is a positive sign," Mercer head coach Steve Bradley said. "We're four shots out of second and nine out of first. As a team, we're looking forward to going out tomorrow and putting together a good round to see where we can finish."
Beale's Monday effort slots the New Zealand native in a five-way tie for 14th individually.
His classmate, Hans Reimers, entered the clubhouse tied for 19th place after opening with a 77 and rebounding with a 69. Reimers' 69 featured birdies in the final three holes was one of only six sub-70 rounds on the day. That effort helped him elevate out of a tie for 57th place after his initial 77.
Freshman Trey Rule and junior John Gregory Joseph both needed 147 strokes on Monday and are tied for 24th overall. Rule shot 70-77 while Joseph went 74-73.
Senior Josh Cone enters Tuesday's play in a tie for 37th individually. Cone opened with a 75 and improved on that total by two strokes in the second round.
The Mobile Bay Intercollegiate resumes with the final round of action scheduled for an 8:08 a.m. start on Tuesday.
