April 18, 2011

FLORENCE, S.C. - For the second straight day, the Samford University men's golf team carded a sub-300 round of play Monday as the Bulldogs moved to third place at the 2011 Southern Conference Championship being held at the Country Club of South Carolina.

As a team, Samford turned in a second-round score of 293 and finished 36 holes of this week's 11-squad competition with a total team tally of 580. Heading into Tuesday's final round of play, the Bulldogs only trail second-place Georgia Southern by a single stroke and first-place No. 33 Chattanooga by five strokes.

All five Chattanooga golfers shot within one stroke of par in round two to lead a consistent effort and place the Mocs four shots clear of the field after 36 holes at the 2011 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship at the Country Club of South Carolina.

Redshirt freshman Chris Robb was Chattanooga's low scorer Monday with a 1-under-par 71. Stephan Jaeger and Davis Bunn were even on the day to lead the Mocs to a 288 team round, also at par.

Chattanooga is followed in the team standings by Georgia Southern (579) and Samford (580).

A trio of golfers sits atop the leaderboard individually as first-round leaders Richard Fountain of Davidson and Lewis Gruber were joined by Samford's Casey O'Toole. At 140, the leaders are four shots better than par through 36 holes of play.

O'Toole, the Bulldogs' talented sophomore from Oneonta, Ala., fired a 1-under-par 71 on Monday to jump from third place to a three-way tie for first place in the individual standings. On Sunday, he opened the SoCon Championship with a 3-under-par 69. The winner of Tuesday's individual tournament will earn a berth in the 2011 NCAA Championship.

Samford's Drew Aimone and Martin Bunt are both tied for 23rd place in this week's competition at 147. Aimone, the Bulldogs' sophomore from Savannah, Ga., turned in a 1-over-par 73 on Monday, while Bunt finished the second round with a 75.

Sophores Bill Nabors and Gabe Hyde also carded solid scores for Samford on Monday. Nabors posted a second-round mark of 76 to move his 36-hole total to 148. Hyde, the Bulldogs' sophomore from Hoover, Ala., turned in a score of 74 on Monday to improve his two-day total to 149.

Wofford freshman Chandler Brazeal and UNC Greensboro junior Will Almand posted the day's lowest scores at 3-under-par 69.

UNC Greensboro was the only team to break par in round two, pulling two shots closer to Chattanooga with a 2-under-par 286. The Spartans are in the fourth spot with one round to play.

College of Charleston (583) sits in fifth place, followed by Wofford (584), Elon (590) and Western Carolina (590). Davidson (592) is in ninth position while Appalachian State (599) and Furman (601) are in 10th and 11th, respectively.

The final round of competition will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. (CDT) with results updated every three holes at www.golfstatresults.com.

Round Two Results - SoCon Championship