Reece’s 79 Leads Chargers in 2nd Round of NJCAA Nationals
Aaron Frey
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 8:25 PM
Athletics
Foley, AL
The Carl Sandburg College men’s golf team rebounded from a frustrating first round of the NJCAA Division II Championship by shaving 20 strokes off its score in Tuesday’s second round at GlenLakes Golf Club.
The Chargers saw all five players match or improve their score Tuesday from the previous round, posting a 330. Sandburg moved up a spot in the team standings to 19th with a total of 680 at the tournament’s midway point.
Freshman Brayden Reece (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville) led Sandburg with a 7-over-par 79 on Tuesday, and his two-round score of 165 leads the Chargers for the tournament. Reece birdied two of his final three holes during a rain storm that halted play for about an hour shortly after he had finished his round.
Sophomore Ryan Hansen (Neponset, Ill./Kewanee) matched the 83 he put up in the first round and is a shot behind Reece at 166.
Sophomore Michael Curry (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) was 3 over through 13 holes — including a birdie on the par-5 10th — and finished the second round with an 82. Curry sits at 176 for the tournament, tied with freshman Bryce Grafton (Orion, Ill./Orion), who carded a second-round 86. Freshman Brady Grafton (Orion, Ill./Orion) posted a 91 for the second straight day.
“We played a better round today, but we still left a lot of shots out there,” Chargers coach Ryan Twaddle said. “We know we can post a good score on this course. We just need to minimize our mistakes on a few holes and not let things snowball on us.”
Meridian (Miss.) shot a 285 and leads the tournament by nine strokes over Mississippi Gulf Coast and Parkland, who are at 588 through two rounds.
Jeffrey Miller of South Mountain (Ariz.) shot a 5-under 67 on Tuesday and is at 5 under for the tournament to lead by two strokes over Noah Hoffman of Southeast (Neb.) and Parkland’s Jalen Hodges.
The Chargers tee off in the third round at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
NJCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championship leaderboard