Fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen carded a two-round, five-under-par 139 on Monday, in the clubhouse in a three-way tie for seventh place to lead Western Carolina men’s golf at the spring-opening Border Olympics Golf Tournament at the Laredo Country Club. The Catamounts sit in a two-way tie with Wright State for 11th place at 5-over par 580 (287-293) with 18 holes to play.
Tuesday’s final round opens at 9 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. CT, with live scoring available online through SmartGolf.
Paired with golfers from Wright State, Pedersen opened his 36-hole day on the par-3 12th, firing an opening-round score of 4-under par 68. The Moss, Norway, product carded five birdies and an eagle on the par-4 16th. He finished the day with a final-round, 1-under par 71, countering three bogeys with four birdies.
All told, Pedersen finished his opening two rounds with 20 pars, a team-best nine birdies, and an eagle to counter six bogeys.
Freshmen Andrew Korytoski and Jace Butcher sit in a tie for 38th and 50th respectively after 36 holes. Korytoski carded rounds of even-par 72 and 1-over par 73 for a 36-hole score of 1-over par 145. He countered three bogeys with a trio of birdies over the opening 18 holes to shoot 72 before charting three more birdies in a 1-over par round of 75 in the afternoon. Butcher is 3-over par with two rounds of 73 and 74 at 147, charting four birdies on Monday including three consecutive between holes No. 8-10.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five are redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez in a tie for 69th at 5-over par 149 (74-75) and sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 81st (77-75 – 152).
Butcher and Hernandez both finished with a team-best 26 pars on Monday with Hernandez matching Pedersen with an eagle coming on the par-5 No. 1.
Paced by individual leader Valentin Peugnet at 12-under par 132, Illinois State (553, -23) carries an eight-stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round ahead of North Texas (561, -15). Lipscomb sits in third at 13-under par 563, with Rice (565, -11) and Troy (566, -10) rounding out the Top Five.
Peugnet (-12) holds a stroke lead over Cody Winkler of North Texas at 11-under par 133. The Redbirds have a second golfer in the podium position as Alex McCulla is 10-under par at 134 in third with one round to play.
T11 – Western Carolina – 287 – 293 = 580
T7 – Magnus Pedersen – 68 – 71 = 139 (-5)
T38 – Andrew Korytoski – 72 – 73 = 145 (+1)
T50 – Jace Butcher – 73 – 74 = 147 (+3)
T69 – Pablo Hernandez – 74 – 75 = 149 (+5)
T81 – Ivan Ninkovic – 77 – 75 = 152 (+8)
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