Mercer Sits Third at Southern Invitational

Monday, March 1

Palm Beach, Fla. (The Falls GC)

All Day (36 Holes)

Mercer University

Southern Invitational

Photo by: Jen Jones

3/1/2021 8:38:00 PM | Men's Golf

Lino Galdin tied for fourth after first two rounds

By: Stephen Waldman

PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer men's golf team finds itself tied for third after the first two rounds at the Southern Invitational on Monday at The Falls Golf Club.

After sitting in sixth place after the opening round, the Bears carded the lowest score of the second round with a 4-under par 284. Mercer's second round was the third-lowest team score of the day behind Middle Tennessee's 281 and Old Dominion's 282, both of which were from the first round.

Three Bears head into the final round inside the top-11, led by senior Lino Galdin who is tied for fourth at 2-under par. Galdin started the day strong with an eagle on his opening hole and recorded four more birdies in the first round for a 4-under 68. The Nesmy, France, native added four more birdies in the second round.

Fellow senior Tyler Copp is one stroke behind at 1-under par and sits tied for eighth through the first 36 holes. Copp rebounded in the second round with a 2-under par 70. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native came up with the shot of the day on the 11^th tee box as he sank a hole-in-one on the 184-yard par 3. It was his second ace in competitive golf since joining the Bears and first since the Grandover Collegiate on Oct. 27-28, 2019 in Greensboro, N.C., during his sophomore year.

Junior Martin Plukka shot an even-par 144 on the day and is tied for 11th. After struggling in the first round, Espoo, Finalnd native recorded a 3-under par 69 in the second round. Plukka was a birdie machine on his second time through the course, picking up six birdies in his second round.

Mercer Scorecard

T3	Mercer	293	284	--	+1	577
T4	Lino Galdin	68	74	--	-2	142
T8	Tyler Copp	73	70	--	-1	143
T11	Martin Plukka	75	69	--	E	144
T34	Ethan Werblo	78	71	--	+5	149
T49	Jonathan Parker	77	76	--	+9	153

COACH KAYDEN'S TAKE
"We got off to a little bit of a rough start with a 5-over in the first round. Lino had a really solid first round to keep us in the tournament. He did a wonderful job and got off to a great start individually.

"I'm really proud of how the guys hit the reset button and mentally refocused for the second round on a 36-hole day. We really bounced back well and finished strong in the second round. We were down by 10 strokes at one point and cut the lead down to five strokes. We're still within striking distance heading into the last day which is exciting, but we've got to bring the same focus and energy we had for the second round. The guys handled the wind and firm greens well, and congratulations to Tyler Copp on another hole-in-one."

Up Next
Mercer closes out the Southern Invitational on Tuesday with its two groups starting at 8:24 and 8:33 at the first tee box.

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