Alabama Jumps into Lead at 34th Annual Schenkel Invitational

Live scoring | Round 1 Results (PDF) | Round 3 tee times (PDF) | Schenkel Web site

STATESBORO, Ga. – Justin Thomas shot a 2-under-par 70 to lead Alabama to a 281 team score as the Crimson Tide took over first place in the 34th Annual Schenkel Invitational after second-round action Saturday at Forest Heights Country Club.

Thomas leads the tournament at 7-under-par. Alabama's Bobby Wyatt shot a 70 to move to 4-under for the tournament and into second, a stroke ahead of teammate Cory Whitsett (-3), who carded a 71 today. Cody Gribble posted a 68 to lead Texas and jump into a tie for third with Whitsett and teammate Brandon Stone.

Alabama (-7 today), Texas (-2 today) and Maryland (Even today) were the only teams to shoot even par or better on a warm and windy Georgia day. The Crimson Tide (-13), the defending Schenkel champions, hold a two-stroke lead over Texas (-11) heading into the final round, and Florida is third (+5).

Maryland jumped from ninth to fourth behind a 67 from Tom Harris and a 71 from Sean Bosdosh. Ole Miss moved up from last place into a tie for eighth after shooting 1-over 289 as a team. Tom Brown's 67 led the way, and Blake Morris carded a 71.

Georgia Southern's Scott Wolfes finished strong for the second day in a row by posting birdies on two of his final three holes to card a 72. The sophomore is tied for sixth at 2-under.

UAB's Sam Love, playing as an individual, fired the low round of the tournament today, a 66, which shifts him into a tie for sixth (-2). Central Florida's Greg Eason shot a 68 to move into the tie for sixth (-2) along with Kentucky's Ben Stow, who shot a 71 for the second straight day.

Georgia Southern is in 11th place (+17), a stroke back of Kentucky (+16) and three strokes behind North Texas and Ole Miss (+14).

Hayden Anderson (right) posted an even-par 72 and played his last 10 holes at 2-under for Georgia Southern. Will Evans birdied his final hole to shoot a 75. Charlie Martin bogeyed two of his last four holes to post a 77, while Blake Olson struggled on his first eight holes, but played his final 10 holes at 1-over and posted an 80.

Georgia Southern's Matt Mierzejewski, Caleb Morris and Christian Humber all played as individuals. Mierzejewski birdied two of his last three holes to post a 78, Morris shot an 81 and Humber carded a 77 after birdieing three of his final five holes.

Action finishes tomorrow with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m.

About the Schenkel
The Schenkel Invitational is named after Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Chris Schenkel. Schenkel, who was the first to cover The Masters on television, the first to anchor a live telecast of the Olympics and to call a nationally broadcast college football game, helped lend his name to a tournament that has grown into one of the premier collegiate golf tournaments in the nation. He grew familiar with Statesboro by spending nine months in a language institute at Georgia Teachers College (now known as Georgia Southern University) as part of his duties with the U.S. Army during World War II.

The lending of Schenkel's name and contacts helped the tournament get started in 1971 and annually attracts an elite field from across the country. The tournament has attracted 68 different schools from 25 states and the nation's capital. Current and past PGA pros Curtis Strange, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Hal Sutton, Jodie Mudd, Luke Donald, Lucas Glover, Bill Haas and Bubba Watson have competed in the Schenkel.

Through the years, six teams and three players have won the tournament en route to capturing the NCAA team and individual titles. Florida (1973), Wake Forest (1974, 1986) and Oklahoma State (1980, 1983, 1987) won both team titles. Curtis Strange and Gary Halberg, both from Wake Forest, won the tournament and NCAA Championship in 1974 and 1979, respectively. Matt Hill of N.C. State was the most recent golfer to accomplish the feat, winning both titles in 2009.

Six U.S. Open, four PGA, two British Open and one Masters titles are among the major wins by individuals who posted a top-10 finish at the Schenkel Invitational during their collegiate careers.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.

Category: Golf

Published on Sunday, 31 December 1899 19:00