Redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez climbed nine positions in Monday’s second round to hit the clubhouse in a three-way tie for fifth place, just three strokes off the pace after 36 holes at the Wofford Invitational at the par-70, 6,683-yard Catawba Country Club. Western Carolina enters Tuesday’s final round in eighth place with a two-round score of 587.
Paired with golfers from Francis Marion and Georgia State, WCU’s scoring five hits the course between holes No. 7 and No. 10 with a 9 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring of the action is available through GolfStat through links at CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina had three golfers tied for 14th after the opening round on Monday with matching scores of 2-over par 72. Hernandez followed with a 1-under par round of 69, countering a pair of bogeys with three birdies on his second 18 holes to move into contention. The Madrid, Spain, native had a team-best seven combined birdies on Monday after charting four in round one.
Sophomore Ivan Ninkovic is tied with five others in 26th place, following his first-round 72 with a 5-over par round of 75. The Croatian-born striker had five birdies and was one of just seven golfers to card an eagle on Monday. Freshman Jace Butcher advanced seven positions over the second 18 holes, following up his first-round 75 with a 4-over par 74 for a total of 149. Butcher countered seven bogeys with a pair of birdies in round one before adding a third birdie against three bogeys and one double-bogey Monday.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five are freshman Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 55th with a score of 152 and fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen in a tie for 67th with a two-round score of 154. Both Korytoski and Pedersen carded three birdies in Monday’s two rounds.
Playing unattached as an individual, redshirt sophomore Josh Lendach is tied for 46th at 10-over par 150, posting rounds of 74 and 76. Lendach finished with six birdies over Monday’s 36 holes. Lendach was tied for 35th after the opening 18 holes Monday.
In second place after the opening round, Richmond climbed atop the team leaderboard by three strokes over second-place South Carolina, 567-to-570. First-round leader Davidson is five strokes off the pace in third with a two-round score of 572, with Wofford (578) in fourth place four strokes ahead of the two-way tie for fifth at 582 between George Washington and Samford. WCU is just five strokes outside the Top Five entering Tuesday’s final round.
Richmond’s Quin Polin followed his opening-round 1-over par with a 3-under par second round to move eight spots to atop the individual leaderboard, a stroke clear of second-place Cedric Otten of Wofford at 138-to-139.
Western Carolina concludes play in its final tune-up before the conference championship on Tuesday. Final results and a complete recap will follow the conclusion of action.
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8 – Western Carolina – 291 – 296 = 587 (+27)
T5 – Pablo Hernandez – 72 – 69 = 141 (+1)
T26 – Ivan Ninkovic – 72 = 75 = 147 (+7)
T37 – Jace Butcher – 75 – 74 = 149 (+9)
T55 – Andrew Korytoski – 72 – 80 = 152 (+12)
T67 – Magnuz Pedersen – 76 – 78 = 154 (+14)
T46 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 74 – 76 = 150 (+10)
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