Mercer University
Southern Conference Championships
Rule Leads Men's Golf on Second Day of SoCon Championship
4/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
PINEHURST, N.C. – Senior Trey Rule carded the tournament's lowest score of the day to lead the Mercer men's golf team in the second round of the 2015 SoCon Championship at Pinehurst No. 9.
Rule's final scorecard was near perfection, as he posted five birdies and an eagle on No. 10 while tallying just one bogey en route to a 6-under 66. The career record-tying round helped the Eatonton, Ga. native climb seven spots on the leaderboard, as he heads into the final round of play just three shots out of the lead in third place with a 5-under 169.
"Trey had a nearly flawless round of golf with great combination of outstanding drives, approach shots and tough putts," said head coach Kirk Kayden. "It was a great job by a senior to really lead the squad, but as team we were unable to get a couple scores to back up his 66. The effort has been very good all tournament, we just haven't been consistent hole-by-hole."
The Bears dropped four strokes off their score from Sunday's opening round with a 5-over-par 293, but slid one spot in the team standings to sixth place with a total tally of 590. Mercer is just six strokes behind third place Chattanooga after 36 holes of golf, as ETSU tops the team leaderboard with a 1-under 575.
Jerry Ren continued to make his mark as one of the tournament's top freshmen, as he heads into the final 18 holes of play ranked third among the league's rookies in 17th place with a 4-over 148. Ren was second on the team on Monday with a 3-over 75, carding three birdies on the day.
Jeffrey Heinicka, Jr. also notched three birdies for the Bears, firing a 1-under on the back nine to record a 4-over 76. Emmanuel Kountakis joined Heinicka with a 76, posting a 2-over 38 on both the front and back nine to close the day in 29th with a total tally of 154. Sean Smothers finished the day 5-over with a score of 77 to round out the action for Mercer, as he enters the final round in a tie for 22nd with a score of 150.
The tournament resumes Tuesday at 8 a.m. with Mercer, Wofford and Western Carolina going off of No. 1 at 10-minute intervals. Furman and Samford go off No. 10 at 8:20, followed by leaders ETSU, UNCG and Chattanooga at 8:50 off No. 1.
"The entire team has had several strong runs during the tournament," added Kayden. "If we can stretch that play more consistently throughout the round, we have a great chance to make a big climb up the team standings tomorrow."
Click here for live scoring of the 2015 SoCon Championship's final round.
Players Mentioned
