APSU Sports Information
Spartanburg, SC – A long day at the Country Club of Spartanburg ended with the Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s golf team in second and a trio of Governors lurking near the head of the field at the Wofford Invitational, which kicked off Monday.
Matching 285s put the Govs (570) nine shots behind 36-hole leader Furman (561) and one shot up on the host Terriers (571). Gardner-Webb (576) and Radford (577) rounded out the top five, with Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont right there at 578.
The Govs did an admirable job getting up and down for most of the day, posting 110 pars—second-most behind Radford.
Hovering near the top of the leaderboard is sophomore Chase Korte, whose seven-under 137 has him two shots off the pace, tied for third. At 69-68, it marks the second time this season Korte has posted two rounds in the 60s in the same tournament, and the first time since Michael Busse at the Hummingbird Invitational back in October—the same tournament Korte was in the 60s twice. Over two rounds, Korte sank a dozen birdies, second-most in the tournament.
Freshman Micah Knisley and junior Austin Lancaster are tied for ninth, shooting 142. Knisley opened with a 70 and finished with a 72, drilling a birdie on the par-4 No. 9 in the second round to help him secure even-par. Lancaster (72-70) mirrored Knisley, but set himself apart with an eagle two on the par-4 at No. 16, one of 21 over the first 36 holes and one of two on No. 16.
Korte (3.80 strokes per hole), Lancaster (3.85 strokes/hole), Knisley (3.90 strokes/hole) and Busse (3.95 strokes/hole) were among the top-10 shooters on par-4 holes in the 88-player field. That helps explain how the Govs posted a tournament-best eight-under score on par-4 holes as a team.
At 149, Busse turned in workmanlike rounds of 74-75 for the Govs; he parred 15 of 18 holes in round two, with only a trio of bogeys blemishing his second tour of the course. Garrett Whitfield (75-79—154) endured a rough six-hole stretch in round two featuring four bogeys and a double on Hole Nos. 4-9; take away those holes and he was one-over in the second round and two-over in the tournament, especially thanks to a team-high 25 pars.
As the individual, senior Sam Lopez also carded a 154 (78-76); he sank four birdies in the second round, and only an eight on the par-4 No. 9 in the second round kept him from even-par on his final 18 of the day.
After playing as a five-man unit over the first 36 holes, the Govs will split off into foursomes for the final round, scheduled for a 9:00am (ET) start, Tuesday. The Govs will be paired with Furman, Wofford and Gardner-Webb and will go off the first three holes.
