Golden Eagles in the hunt after opening day of Georgia State Invitational
DULUTH, Ga. – Solid back-to-back rounds put the Tennessee Tech men's golf team in the hunt heading into the final day of competition at the Georgia State Invitational. With just one round to play at Berkeley Hills Country Club, the Golden Eagles sat just nine strokes out of first place.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
DULUTH, Ga. – Solid back-to-back rounds put the Tennessee Tech men's golf team in the hunt heading into the final day of competition at the Georgia State Invitational. With just one round to play at Berkeley Hills Country Club, the Golden Eagles sat just nine strokes out of first place.
The purple and gold delivered a score of 295 to open the action on Monday and followed it up with an improved round of 291 to conclude the day sixth among the 16 teams in competition and just five shots within second place with a score of 586. James Madison led the way, finishing with a 577 for a four-stroke lead. Wright State's Tyler Goecke paced the individual board with two rounds of 68 for a 136.
For Tech, it was Jackson Skeen leading by example with a pair of sub-par rounds to rank fourth among the 87 golfers in the field. The sophomore fired five birdies on his way to first-round 71 and backed it up with a 2-under 70 in round two with five more birdies. His total score of 141 led the Golden Eagles by six strokes.
Next on the leaderboard for the purple and gold was freshman Anders Larson, sporting a 147 to tie for 25th. The rookie opened the day with a 2-over 74 with a pair of birdies and followed with four more birdies for a 1-over 73.
Tying for 33rd overall were senior Chance Taylor and rookie Haden Maxwell, both carding 75-74=149 on the day. The veteran Taylor racked up four birdies in the first round of action to sit 3-over. In round two, he birdied twice with a whopping 14 pars for his 74. Maxwell turned in 14 pars and a birdie of his own in round one and returned to the links to pile up 14 more pars and another birdie in the second.
Competing as an individual, Bryce Beeler made his season debut with a 155. Tying for 57th, the senior locked down five birdies in the opening round of action on his way to a 76. He snagged one birdie for a 79 in round two. Rounding out the Tech lineup, Mark McDearman tied for 63rd with a 156. The junior improved from a first-round 80 to post a 76 in the second round with a pair of birdies.
The third and final round of the Georgia State Invitational will feature a 7:50 a.m. CT start for the team while Beeler will kick off play as an individual at 7:15 a.m.
| Top 5 Teams: | ||||||
| 1. | James Madison | 289-288=577 | +1 | |||
| 2. | Wright State | 290-291=581 | +5 | |||
| 3. | Lipscomb | 293-289=582 | +6 | |||
| 4. | Georgia State | 299-284=583 | +7 | |||
| 5. | App State | 299-285=584 | +8 | |||
| 6. | Tennessee Tech | 295-291=586 | +10 | |||
| Leaderboard (87 Golfers) | ||||||
| 1. | Tyler Goecke (Wright State) | 68-68=136 | -8 | |||
| 4. | Jackson Skeen | 71-70=141 | -3 | |||
| T-25. | Anders Larson | 74-73=147 | +3 | |||
| T-33. | Chance Taylor | 75-74=149 | +5 | |||
| T-33. | Haden Maxwell | 75-74=149 | +5 | |||
| T-57. | Bryce Beeler* | 76-79=155 | +11 | |||
| T-63. | Mark McDearman | 80-76=156 | +12 | |||
| *competed as an individual | ||||||
File photo by Emily Armstrong
