By Colleen O’Connell
SILVIS, Ill. – No. 8 Coastal Georgia sits atop of the team leaderboard after Round Two of the 67th Annual NAIA Men’s Golf Championships at TPC Deere Run. The Mariners have 3-under 565 (280 + 285) after the first two rounds, and have a one-stroke lead on No. 2 Dalton State (2-under 566, 284 + 282).
“The course was a little tougher today. The greens are speeding up. They’re still holding on, thank goodness, but they are definitely speeding up,” Coastal Georgia head coach Mike Cook said. “We’re in good position halfway through; this is where we wanted to be. This is a patient-man’s course. We need to play smart because some of the big guys are right there – Oklahoma City, Dalton State. We just need to play our game and not worry about anything else.”
Mark David Johnson and Chip Thompson lead the Mariners with two-round scores of 1-under 141 and are tied for sixth with six others. Johnson shot a 1-over 72 on Wednesday (had a 2-under 69 on Tuesday), while Thompson carded a 2-over 73 (shot 3-under 68 on Tuesday).
Lauri Hacklin had the day’s top improvement for the Mariners, lowering his second round score by seven strokes. Hacklin shot a 3-under 68 for the day and now has a two-round total of 1-over 143 (75 + 68). Hacklin is also tied for 19th.
Tied for 42nd, Harrison Stafford shot a 1-over 72 and entered the clubhouse with total of 4-over 146 (74 + 72). Kyle Kidd is just one stroke back with a two-day total of 5-over 147 (69 + 78) and tied for 54th.
On the individual leaderboard, S.M. Lee from Dalton State fired a 3-under 68 on Wednesday and for a two-round total of 5-under 137 (69 + 68).
As a result of its performance during the first two days, Coastal Georgia moves on to Round Three. The Mariners will play with the nation’s top two teams in No. 1 Oklahoma City and No. 2 Dalton State. In addition to Dalton State in second place, Oklahoma City is currently tied with Keiser for third with a 4-over 572 (290 + 282). Round Three for the Mariners tees off at 2:40 p.m. EST/1:40 p.m. CDT on the front nine. Follow along with live scoring located here.
Originally published on CoastalGeorgiaSports.com