Georgia Southern BattlesTough Conditions at John Hayt
2/28/2011 10:18:00 PM | Men's Golf
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - One day removed from tying his best round at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, Logan Blondell's (Lakeland, Fla.) 4-over 76 on Monday helped the senior maintain a tie for 29th place. His Monday score kept Georgia Southern within reach of a top-10 finish going into Tuesday's final round at the par-72, 6,942-yard Sawgrass Country Club. Auburn, recording a 7-over 295 in the second round, leads the field with a 1-over 577 for the tournament. The Tigers also have a share of the lead in the individual standings as Blayne Barber is tied with Arkansas' Sebastian Cappelen and Florida's Phillip Choi for first place with a 5-under 139 total.
"The conditions changed dramatically today, and when the wind blows it's a tough golf course," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "We could have shot 300, which would've been a good score considering the conditions. We could not finish coming down the last stretch of holes. We are still within reach of a good finish. Our team just needs to come back and play well tomorrow."
Sawgrass Country Club, where water comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes and features well-bunkered greens, can play under more difficult conditions when high winds are a factor. That was the case Tuesday as only one team in the 15-team field posted a better score in the second round compared to the first. The average team-total score for Monday's second round was 13 strokes higher than the 18 holes played on Sunday.
The Eagles, playing in a field that features nine teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin Top 50 rankings, are currently in 13th place and only six strokes behind ninth place with a 603 (292-311) total. Blondell recorded Georgia Southern's lowest round of the day. Two birdies on par-5s coming into the clubhouse helped him sign for his 4-over 76.
Teammates Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria) posted scores within one stroke of each other to finish the second round in a tie for 36th place. Anderson, battling tough play on the back-stretch, sunk a birdie on his 13th hole of the day to finish 6-over (78). Sander, who got a birdie to drop on the final hole of his round, carded a 5-over 77.
Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.), competing as an individual, positioned himself in a tie for 58th place by posting birdies on the par-4 16th and par-5 eighth to finish the day at 6-over (78). Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished two strokes behind Ware with an 8-over 80 while Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) goes into the final round with a 162 two-round total.
Georgia Southern will be paired with Jacksonville and UAB for the final round. Will Evans will tee off first for the Eagles on the 10th hole beginning at 8:36 a.m. Tuesday, March 1st.
Fans can get live scoring of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational by visiting www.golfstat.com.
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