Mercer University
Inverness Intercollegiate
Men's Golf Tied for Sixth at Inverness Intercollegiate
9/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Mercer men's golf team wrapped up the first 36 holes of the Inverness Intercollegiate in a tie for sixth place, posting scores of 303 and 294 at the renowned Inverness Club on Monday.
"We had a better second round with considerable improvement," head coach Kirk Kayden said. "Inverness is a major championship type of golf course that is mentally and physically challenging due to it being a fast and firm course. However, our guys did a good job, worked hard and were able to put together some good scores."
The championship course created problems for all 12 teams, as each program failed to finish a round with a score of par or lower on the opening day. East Tennessee State and South Florida pulled away from the pack with an 11-over 579 on Monday. The Bears will begin Tuesday's final round six strokes behind UAB and Yale for third place.
Senior Trey Rule finished three shots out of the lead to pace Mercer on the opening day of action. Rule carded a 73 on his first 18 holes, before using five birdies in his final round en route to a score of 145.
Sophomore Sean Smothers posted a team-best 72 in the opening round and close the day with a 75 to head into the final day in 13th place. Fellow sophomore Emmanuel Kountakis caught fire on his final 18 holes, finishing with a two-under 69 to place 20th and overcome an first round score of 79.
Jeffrey Heinicka, Jr. registered scores of 83 and 78 to end the day in 54th place, while Jerry Ren finished in 58th place with a two-round score of 163.
Mercer will resume play tomorrow, as the final round kicks off with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.
Click here for live scoring of this week's event.
Players Mentioned
