Eagles Open in Fourth at SpringHill Suites Intercollegiate
9/14/2010 4:46:00 AM | Men's Golf
FLORENCE, S.C. - Led by Lewis Gruber's second round six-under 66, the Georgia Southern Golf team goes into the clubhouse with a team total 574 for fourth place going into the final round at the 26th-annual SpringHill Suites Intercollegiate. The Eagles, two-time defending champions at this event, shot 7-under as a team on the final nine holes in the second round.
The Eagles shaved eight strokes off their first-round total 291, to finish with a second-round 283, which places them 12 strokes behind first place Georgia College & State University in the team standings. Chattanooga is three strokes ahead of Georgia Southern in second place while Jacksonville State's opening day 572 puts it two strokes ahead of the Eagles in third.
"We played solid," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "Our iron play was off but I'm proud of the guys for hanging in there today. We had to face some adversity today and they fought through it to give us a chance to be in contention for the title tomorrow."
The second-round play of junior Lewis Gruber helped propel Georgia Southern into contention. The Tallahassee, Fla., native fired seven birdies and only one bogey for a second round 66, the lowest second-round score and tied with individual leader Chris Robb (Chattanooga) for the tournament's low score. Gruber sits at seventh place (73-66=139), four strokes behind Robb, going into the final round.
"Lewis had a very solid and clean 66," stated Mays. "His personality is like a shark, when there's blood in the water he finds a way to find it. When he's near the top of the leader board he likes to win. It's a great trait to have."
Trailing behind Gruber is teammate Florian Sander, whose first round 72 and second round 70 has the Bregenz, Austria, native positioned in a tie for eighth (72-70=142). Sander was one of seven players at the SpringHill Suites Intercollegiate tournament to shoot an eagle on The Country Club of South Carolina golf course. Sander's drive off the 11th hole set up an approach shot that would find the ball 20 feet from the pin. The sophomore then putted the 20 footer in for eagle.
Senior Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) jumped from a tie for 26th place after the first round to a 21st-place tie going into the final day. Blondell opened the day with a 1-over 73 and carded an even 72 second round to end the day. Sharing a tie for 36th place, senior Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.) fired a 1-over opening round of 73. Deal finished the day at 4-over 148 with a second-round 75.
Competing for the first time at the Country Club of South Carolina, freshman Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) carded a pair of 4-over 76s for a two-round total 152. This puts Evans in a tie for 57th.
Competing as an individual, freshman Drew Guffey (Bartow, Fla.) opened the day with a 4-over 77 first round, followed by a second-round 79. Guffey stands at 72nd place with an opening day total of 156.
"The new guys performed well," said Mays. "It helps when you get to play together as a team. It calms your nerves and helps the freshman relax. We played solid today and couldn't get any momentum until the last nine holes. We finally got some momentum going down the stretch to help us going into the final round tomorrow."
The final round of play takes place Tuesday, September 14th. Georgia Southern tees off on hole one beginning at 8:50 a.m. They will be paired with Southern Conference foes Chattanooga and Samford.
