MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. -- After an exceptional opening round, the Christopher Newport men's golf team was terrific again on day two as all five Captains scored a 75 or better at the Golfweek DIII Invite. Leading the charge was All-American
Robb Kinder, firing a two-under 69 to climb into a tie for 11th on the individual leaderboard while helping the Captains maintain their position at No. 4 as a team.
Christopher Newport signed for a 286 in the second round, marking the lowest round for the team since the second round of the 2019 Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate (275).
After Kinder,
Alex Price, and
Jackson Gessaman all signed for 73 in the first round, the trio continued to lead the charge after the second 18 holes. Kinder matched his career-low with his 69 and marked his second finest performance in relation to par (-2). The round stands as his third under par performance as a Captain.
Kinder was up and down on the front nine but escaped the first half at just one-over par courtesy of a pair of birdies. On the back, he put together an impressive run and managed to head back into the clubhouse in 33 strokes. After five straight pars, he dropped a two on the Par 4 15th hole for a momentum-building Eagle. Then, he added his third birdie of the day on the 550-yard Par 5 17th hole to continue his ascent.
Price is tied for 21st individually after an Even par 71 on day two that included his second Eagle of the tournament. After a long drive on the 386-yard Par 4 10th hole, Price kickstarted a terrific back nine by holing his second shot. The eagle was paired with a couple of birdies as the lefty finished his back nine in 32 strokes (-4) and moved the Captain's All-American up the leaderboard.
Gessaman had an efficient day for Christopher Newport with very little color on the scorecard. He started the day with six straight pars before trading a bogey for a birdie on the next two. After that, he scored par on nine of the last ten holes to finish with a two-over 73. The sophomore is tied for 29th in the tournament and leads the Captains with 24 pars scored.
Showing no weaknesses,
Aidan Baron rounded out the scoring on day two with a team-high five birdies. The sophomore was stellar to start, firing a four-under score through the first eight holes. He added another birdie on the back, on the 432-yard Par 4 13th hole, and scored eight pars in the round.
Baron and classmate
Carrter Morris (+9) are both tied for 61st with matching 151's through the first 36 holes. Morris was the drop score on Tuesday despite a strong 75 that included three birdies. Over the first 36 holes, Morris is tied with Gessaman with 24 pars scored.
The Captains will return to the course for round three of the 54-hole event on Tuesday. The final round will be presented via live scoring at CNUsports.com. Christopher Newport tees off at 8:15 am and will play with Lynchburg (T4, +13), Piedmont (8, +15), and Gustavus Adolphus (7, +14).
