By Michael Lehman, TTU Sports Information
JACKSON, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's golf team put together back-to-back strong rounds on the opening day of the Grover Page Classic Monday afternoon, finishing play at Jackson Country Club and among the eight teams in third place.
The Golden Eagles fired off a 297 over the first 18 holes and put forth an even better effort in the second round. Tech shaved two strokes off the score from round one, posting a 295 for an overall total of 592. Headed into round three TTU trailed just Samford, by seven strokes, and host UT Martin, by 18 strokes.
Leading the way for the Golden Eagles were veterans A.J. Wilkerson and Alexander Riddle. The two juniors tied for 12th among the 48 participants, sporting totals of 147. Wilkerson showed consistency with marks of 74 and 73 while Riddle made an impressive improvement from rounds one to two. The Chattanooga, Tenn. native put forth a 77 before shaving seven strokes off the total for a career-low 70.
Sophomore Matthew Giles was next among the Tech players, tying for 21st after carding rounds fo 74 and 76 for a 150. Not far behind, freshman Cameron Year turned in a 72-81=153 to tie for 29th. Rounding out the Golden Eagle lineup was another rookie, Dabney Dickenson. The freshman finished at 82 and 76 for a 158.
Competing as an individual, fellow freshman Charles Seals tallied a 156 behind rounds of 82 and 74 in his third career event.
Tech will round out action at the Grover Page Classic with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles will look to lock in their fourth straight top four finish at UT Martin's event.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information