The Georgia Southern men’s golf team was firing on all cylinders on Saturday and will once against be in contention to play for a win at the Schenkel Invitational.
Georgia Southern scored the lowest round of the day as its four counting scores combined to go 12-under par for the day, leaving the Eagles at 11-under for the tournament.
“You always talk about getting four good scores that we can use for the team,” GS coach Carter Collins said. “Yesterday, we weren’t able to do that. Today, everyone came out focused and played very good rounds. That’s what you have to do to compete.”
Teeing off early in the morning, the Eagles didn’t waste any time in starting their climb up the leaderboard. Three of the five Eagles in the starting lineup birdied hole No. 1 and the quintet was a combined 7-under par on the front nine. The biggest shot fired came on No. 7 as Jake Storey eagled the par-5, eliciting a roar that could be heard all the way back at the clubhouse.
Storey finished with a 68 and is sixth place on the individual leaderboard at 6-under through two rounds.
The Eagles had a similar strong front nine on Friday, only to see things tail off from there. Georgia reversed that trend on Saturday as most of the lineup picked up strokes on the field over a tough finishing stretch.
“We earned some momentum for tomorrow, and that’s when the trophies are handed out,” Collins said. “We have guys who have been playing some good golf for a while now and today it all came together for a good team score. Now we have to go out and do it again.”
Archer Price was even on his round at the 16th tee, but unleashed three consecutive birdies for a 69 and is now tied for second among individuals at 8-under for the tournament.
Steven Fisk was up and down through his first round — and through Saturday’s front nine — before a similar surge. The junior who is currently ranked 10th in the nation holed a long birdie putt on the par-3 13th, picked up another birdie on the 17th, then played two perfect shots to within seven feet on the par-5 18th, finishing up his day with an eagle.
Georgia Southern is tied for third place with Mississippi State. Kentucky sits alone in second place at 14-under and everyone will have their work cut out as they chase tournament leader Vanderbilt, which carved up Forest Heights once again and is now at 23-under par.
“(The large deficit) doesn’t change a thing for us,” Collins said. “Our job is to show up focused tomorrow. We need to do our best and challenge ourselves to put up good scores and see where that takes us.”
Georgia Southern’s tee times begin a 9:15 a.m. The Eagles will be paired with the College of Charleston and North Carolina State for their final round.
