SANDESTIN, Fla. -- With one round left to play, the Christopher Newport men's golf team sits tied for 14th after a second round 303.
Alex Price leads the team on the individual leaderboard, tied for 15th at Even par with a 142 (69-73) through the first 36 holes.
As a team, the Captains have finished the first two days in 590 strokes, pairing the opening round 287 with a 303 on day two. CNU is 22-over par after signing for a 19-over card in the second round. The Captains are tied with Methodist and Guilford, rated Nos. 2 and 3 on the GolfStat team rankings, and sitting 24 strokes back of Illinois Wesleyan in the lead at two-under par.
For the second straight round, Price finished strong with two birdies in his final five holes. He also opened the round on a good run, picking up par or better on each of his first seven holes played. He recovered from a three-hole lull in the middle of the round with five pars and two birdies on the back nine. The senior lefty is five strokes off the pace set by Aurora University's Jack Vercautren, who shot an impressive 65 on day two to take the lead in a three-way tie with Emory's Michael Burry and Oglethorpe's Michael O'Sullivan.
Junior
Aidan Baron added a solid four-over 75 on day two, picking up two birdies and 12 pars in the round. Baron made the turn at one-over with a birdie three on the 409-yard Par 4 ninth hole, and added another birdie on the 321-yard Par 4 fifteenth hole.
Jack Gessaman (+5) and
Robb Kinder (+11) rounded out the day for CNU with a 77 and 78, respectively. Gessaman had an excellent front nine with eight pars and one bogey. He also rallied late for a birdie on the 546-yard Par 5 seventeenth hole, and finished with a par on his last hole. Kinder birdied the first of the day and worked through an up-and-down trek on Monday, finishing with eight pars and two birdies to sign for a 78.
As a team, the Captains have fared well on the Par 4 holes, ranking third in the tournament with a 4.15 average between the five CNU golfers. Gessaman Price are +1 through the first two rounds and Baron is +2 on the Par 4 holes.
The tournament will conclude on Tuesday with the third and final round of action from the Raven Golf Club in Sandestin, Fla. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com with the link found on the men's golf schedule at CNUsports.com.
