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Pairings
GASTONIA, N.C. – A strong second round lifted the Georgia Southern's men's golf team up the leaderboard as it sits in sixth place after two rounds of golf played Monday at the Gary Koch Invitational, being played at the Gaston Country Club. After a tough opening round, the Eagles carved 14 shots off their round in carding a -4 team total in the second round, which was the fourth-best round to move them upwards.
Auburn (-27), ranked No. 11 in the country, leads the tournament by six shots over No. 28 Kentucky (-21) after firing a 15-under 273 in the second round. Georgia Southern ( 6) is alone in sixth place, trailing No. 45 Virginia ( 3) by three shots, and one shot clear of Sun Belt rival ULM ( 7).
Jake Storey (E) carded 71-73=144 and is tied for 24th while
Luukas Alakulppi ( 1) shot 76-69=145 and is in 30th place.
Archer Price ( 2) shot 73-73=146 and is tied for 31st.
Steven Fisk ( 3) shot 78-69=147 and is tied for 37th, but will be looking to build off a strong second round.
Avery Price posted 82-77=159. Individual
Jacob Bayer shot a 72-72=144 and is tied for 24th place. The field features five top-50 teams and eight top-100 individuals.
The story Rd. 2
Alakulppi recorded four birdies on the front nine as he carded a 33 on the front nine. He went on to shoot even par on the back nine to finish with a 3-under-par 69. Fisk picked up two birdies in the first three holes en route to a -2 on his first nine holes. He parred the next eight holes before finishing the round with a birdie to finish the round at -3. Storey ran off four birdies on the front half but suffered two bogeys in his final three holes to finish at 1 for the round.
Archer Price finished strong, picking up birdies on two of the final three holes to finish the round at 1 with a 73. Bayer went on a hot streak, picking up three birdies over a five-hole span to shoot a 72 and put him in a tie for 24th place heading into the final day.
The story Rd. 1
Storey rolled in four birdies, including one on 18, to finish the morning session. He also posted back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 and played the back nine 1-under to post a 71.
Archer Price, playing on his home course, posted birdies on Nos. 7, 14 and 18 as he shot a 73.
Jacob Bayer, playing as an individual, posted three birdies in route to an even-par 72.
Four of the five Eagles playing in the starting lineup birdied No. 18 as the team made a strong finish despite a disappointing start. GS shot a 10-over-par 298 in damp and cool conditions in the morning.
Quotable from Coach Carter Collins
"I'm really proud of the adjustments the team made from the first round to the second and climbed back into position in this great field. We have struggled with opening rounds so far in the spring but they have a ton of resilience and resolve and showed that again today. We are excited about continuing our progression tomorrow!"
Next up
Georgia Southern plays the third and final round tomorrow. The Eagles are paired with No. 17 Florida State (-2) and No. 45 Virginia ( 3) and will tee off hole 1 at 8:30 a.m.
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