AUGUSTA,
Ga. --
Augusta State used a record-setting effort Saturday to bolt to the top of the leaderboard in the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
The No. 3 Jaguars registered rounds of 14-under 274 and 18-under 270 to move out to an eight-shot lead over South Carolina. Tennessee is third, seven shots back of the Gamecocks, while Clemson is fourth and Georgia Southern and Duke own a share of fifth place.
ASU’s 36-hole total of 544 (32-under) broke the previous tournament mark of 25-under 51l, set just last spring by the Jaguars. South Carolina fired a 22-under 266 in the afternoon, breaking the lowest second-round total in the tournament’s 32-year history.
“It definitely helps being at our home course. We sure have a lot of good vibes here,” said ASU head coach Josh Gregory. “But it’s far from over. South Carolina played a special round of golf and it was a lot of fun to witness that and watch our guys compete against them.”
ASU sophomore Patrick Reed tallied a back-nine, six-under 30 en route to an opening-round 66 and booked a five-under 67 in the afternoon for a 36-hole total of 11-under 133, tying a tourney record for the lowest 36-hole total. He owns a two-shot lead over Clemson’s Corbin Mills and Alabama’s Bud Cauley and is three shots ahead of teammate Henrik Norlander (68-68) along with Tennessee’s Robin Wingardh and South Carolina’s Paul Woodbury.
Reed and Norlander are two of six Jags among the top 14. Junior Carter Newman fashioned the low round of his collegiate career in the afternoon with a four-under 68 and is tied for seventh at seven-under 137, one stroke back of Norlander.
“It always helps when you can put a run like that together,” Reed said of his stretch of five consecutive birdies on the back nine of his second round. “This is the first tournament I’ve played for Augusta State when I’ve been able to pick out a line and just go with it. It was a lot of fun out there today.”
Senior Jake Amos, playing as individual, had a six-under 66 in the second round and is tied for 12th at six-under 136. Junior Mitch Krywulycz (71-68) and sophomore Taylor Floyd (72-67) are tied for 14th at five-under 139. Junior Olle Bengtsson (75-76) is tied for 82nd at seven-over 151.
Duke’s Adam Long matched the course and tournament record in the second round with an eight-under 64. Long birdied three of his last five holes and totaled seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole against a long bogey.
The third and final round gets underway Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m., with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10. Floyd will lead for the Jags, who will be paired with South Carolina and Tennessee, at 10:30, followed by Krywulycz at 10:39, Newman at 10:48 and Norlander at 10:57. Reed will anchor the ASU lineup at 11:06. Amos and Bengtsson will begin their final rounds off the 10th tee beginning at 11:15 a.m.
Live scoring and full-field results are available at www.aug.edu/athletics as well as www.golfstat.com.
The field includes five top-20 squads and features 11 teams ranked in the top 50 of the nation, including No. 3 ASU, the highest-ranked team in the field. No. 8 Illinois, No. 14 Clemson, No. 17 South Carolina and No. 18 Alabama highlight the 18-team field. All but three teams are ranked among the top 100 programs in the country.
The tourney is open to the public and there is no admission. No spectator carts will be issued.