By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
DICKSON, Tenn. – It was a tale of two rounds for the Tennessee Tech men's golf team Monday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles rebounded from round one to jump up three places with an improvement of 11 strokes in round two at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate at Greystone Golf Club.
After combining for a 307 and ranking 10th among the 10 participating teams, the Tech five fired back over the second 18 in Dickson, Tenn. to make the largest improvement in the event. Tech notched a 296 in the second round, leaping up to seventh place behind an improvement of 11 shots.
Leading the way for the Golden Eagles on day one was sophomore Matthew Giles, who represented one of the key leaders in the Tech turnaround, trimming seven strokes from his first-round 78 for a 1-under 71 in round two for a 149 overall. His huge improvement led to a tie for 21st overall among the 60 participants.
Also making a significant dip in scoring from round one to two, Cameron Yeary tied for 30th overall thanks to shaving five strokes off a 78 for a 73 and 151 total. Junior Alexander Riddle trickled in just one stroke behind his teammate, boasting scores of 73 and 79 for a 152 on day one.
The biggest impact from one round to the next came from freshman Dabney Dickenson, who sliced nine strokes from his first 18 holes, a score of 82, for a 1-over 73 over the final 18 holes of the day. Wrapping up the day for the Golden Eagles, junior A.J. Wilkerson closed out his first day by carding a 78-80=158.
"The guys did a great job of battling and coming back strong after a tough opening round," head coach Polk Brown said. "There is still room to improve though, and we will be looking to build on that improvement in tomorrow's final round at Greystone."
The Golden Eagles will close out the F&M Bank Intercollegiate with an 8:30 a.m. CT shotgun start to the final round on Tuesday.
Photo by Tony Marable
