Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Mason Rudolph Championship
Blue Raiders among the leaders in stacked field at Mason Rudolph Championship
4/1/2022 5:52:00 PM | Men's Golf
MT in third, Wolf in second at Vanderbilt Legends Club
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee finished the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship in third place Friday as Nick Wolf ended the day in second place individually. Four Blue Raiders finished at par or better for a team score of 276 (-8), while Wolf carded a 65 (-6) on the strength of seven birdies.
Only No. 3 Vanderbilt (266) and No. 20 Tennessee (275) finished the round ahead of Middle Tennessee. MT's 276 equals its fourth-best round of the season.
"I'm very happy with the start from the team today," head coach Mark McEntire said. "Great round by Nick Wolf, but it was overall a very solid performance from everyone. I know our players will be looking forward to playing in the final group with Vandy and Tennessee tomorrow."
Wolf recorded six pars and three birdies on the back nine to start the day before finishing with four birdies and four pars on the front nine. Those seven birdies were the second-most in the first round. The Murfreesboro native is two strokes behind Vanderbilt's Cole Sherwood – the No. 9 player in the country in Golfstat's rankings – for the individual lead.
Owen Stamper and Michael Barnard ended the round in a tie for 21st at 70 (-1). Stamper recorded five birdies – including three in a row on the back nine – to end the first round with a score of 70 for the third straight tournament. Barnard recovered from bogeys on three of his first eight holes to go 3-under the rest of the round.
Connor Daly recorded his third round of par or better on the year with a 71 (E) Friday. He enters Saturday's second round tied for 31st individually.
Kevin Jegers rounds out the MT lineup at 76 (+5), tied for 74th. Although he carded three birdies, the Tallinn, Estonia, native was derailed by just three holes with scores over par.
The Blue Raiders equaled the second-best performance in the field on par 4 holes at even par and the third-best on par 3 holes and 1-under. Cincinnati and Vanderbilt (22) were the only teams to finish with more birdies than MT's 21.
Wolf tied for the best performance on par 5 holes at 3-under and was one stroke off the individual lead on par 3 holes at 2-under.
The Blue Raiders will be in the final group to tee off Saturday, joining Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
Players Mentioned
