Raiders claim 36-hole lead at Raines Company Intercollegiate

Saturday, February 6

Florence, S.C.

Middle Tennessee

Raines Company Intercollegiate

2/6/2021 5:11:00 PM | Men's Golf

Round 2 Results (PDF)

Four Raiders in Top 14 with 18 to go

By: @MTAthletics

FLORENCE, S.C. – Despite nearly a 4-month layoff since a team title at the Intercollegiate at The Grove, the Blue Raider Men's Golf team seems to have picked up right where it left off through two rounds at the Raines Company Intercollegiate.

All six Blue Raiders turned in at least one under-par round on Saturday with Connor McKay, Owen Stamper and Michael Barnard each logging a pair of under-par rounds to land inside the Top 10 by the end of day one. As a team, Middle Tennessee posted rounds of 8-under par 280 and 14-under par 274 to take a 2-stroke lead into the final round at 22-under par (554).

"What a great first two rounds from all six of our guys to start the spring season off strong, especially in our last 18 holes today," Assistant Coach Cody Proveaux stated. "There was some rust to shake off early but once they got rolling there was no looking back. They all hit it really well today and kept the ball in front of them for all 36 holes."

McKay led the charge for MT on day one, posting stellar rounds of 3-under par 69 and 4-under par 68 and sits in third place at 7-under par (137). The graduate transfer from Lipscomb is just two strokes back of the leader with 18 holes to play.

Stamper is only a stroke back of his veteran teammate after opening with a round of 4-under par 68 and following it up with a 2-under par 70.

After arriving late in South Carolina due to a non-COVID related illness, Barnard appears to have not missed a beat as he carded under par rounds of 71 then 69 on the opening day to share 10^th place thru 36 holes.

Senior Tanner Owens opened the day with a steady 72, but caught fire in the afternoon with a bogey-free 69 that pushed him into a tie for 14^th at 3-under par.

Gavin Clements matched the Stamper and McKay for the lowest round on the team with a 4-under 68 in the afternoon that erased a 4-over 76 in the morning while true freshman Kevin Jegers – making his Blue Raider debut just 19 days after arriving in Murfreesboro – turned around a rocky start by going 2-under par in his final 29 holes to finish the day at 3-over par.

"Gavin bounced back really well in the afternoon following a 76 up with a 68," Proveaux exclaimed. "Connor and Owen played some great golf all day, and Mike and Tanner did their thing and handled their business just as we expect, so we look for them to play really well again tomorrow.

"It was an awesome experience today for Kevin in his first event as a Blue Raider. I believe he has really learned a lot already and will only continue to grow and be a great player for us in the future."

Individuals Josh Morris and Palmer Sadlowski turned in 36-hole scores of 3-over par and 8-over par, respectively, on day one in South Carolina.

The action continues with 18 more holes at Country Club of South Carolina beginning at 7:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the third and final round can be followed on GolfStat.