Results
Second-Round Pairings
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio - The first 36 holes of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship were concluded on Monday with a familiar program once again in the driver's seat.
The par-72, 6,736-yard layout at Four Bridges Country Club was both forgiving and unforgiving in certain stretches. The overall weather, with plentiful of sunshine and manageable winds, was a night-and-day difference from the inclement conditions that plagued the 2015 and 2016 conference tournaments.
Trevecca Nazarene, winner of four straight conference team championships, was able to carve out a 15-shot lead in the seven-team race. The Trojans posted rounds of 293 and 303 for a 36-hole total of 596.
That leaves considerable, but not necessarily comfortable distance between current runner-up Davis & Elkins (302-309--611) and third-place Cedarville (305-310--615).
Alderson Broaddus (310-309) will be looking to make up serious ground in fourth while Malone (301-319) also finds itself in striking distance one stroke back of the Battlers. Kentucky Wesleyan (322-318) and Ohio Valley (324-328) stand sixth and seventh, respectively.
TNU did it with consistency up and down the lineup 1 through 5. Even with the late scratch of projected starter Reese Scobey, Garrett Evans stepped in and didn't miss a beat as the Trojans' discounted score in the first round was a strong 75.
TNU's first-round scores also produced an even-par 72 from Landon Cottrell, a 1-over par from Trevor Lay and respective 74's from Evans and Larken Whittemore.
Alderson Broaddus senior Adam Jeffries has been a contender before after placing runner-up in the G-MAC Championship as a sophomore and a solid sixth place as a junior. But his third look at Four Bridges Country Club with familiarity on the same course could yield the best results yet.
Playing 36 holes regardless of weather can be progressively draining, but Jeffries has been working on his knockdown shots and knows 'where to miss' on the course to allow himself the opportunity to get up and down.
The talented lefty played the course with guile and smarts to emerge as the early individual leader following a 69 (-3) and 74 ( 2) for a two-round score of 143. He leads by two strokes over Cottrell. Jeffries made five birdies in the first round and added two more in his second round of 18.
Several players are also in the rearview mirror bearing down, including two veterans who were in a three-way playoff a year ago - Cedarville's Jordan Reese and TNU's Payton Williams.
Malone's Jarrod Kasunick (73-74), coming off a tie for medalist honors at the OVU Spring Challenge to end the regular season, is also in the hunt tied for third. D&E's Alistair Kyle (76-74) is also positioned well in sixth going into tomorrow.
A total of eight eagles were recorded on Monday, including five by players from Malone. Most were recorded on the par 5, 11th hole, statistically the easiest among players in the field. But on the par-4 No. 9 hole, it gave many players fits with the average score over a stroke vs. par from the 35-player field.
The third and final round of the G-MAC Men's Golf Championship will tee off tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live scoring of the event is available through Golfstat.com.