Falcons Seventh After 36 Holes at Cardinal Intercollegiate

Monday, September 20

Louisville, KY

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Cardinal Intercollegiate

September 20, 2010 | Men's Golf

Tightly Packed Leaderboards Give Hope for Higher Finish

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communications Intern

DAY ONE TEAM LEADERBOARD -- DAY ONE PLAYER LEADERBOARD

DAY ONE COMBO LEADERBOARD (TEAM WITH PLAYERS) -- DAY ONE COURSE STATS

The Bowling Green State University men's golf team enters the second day of the (University of Louisville) Cardinal Intercollegiate in seventh place with only one player in the top 20. However, tightly packed leaderboards portend a wild final round and the possibility of upward movement for the Falcons.

Playing for the third time in 2010, the Falcons traveled south to Simpsonville, Ky. to play on the par-72, 7,036-yard course at The Cardinal Club. At this 36-hole event, held today (Monday, Sept. 20) and tomorrow, the Falcons face a field of 16 teams from across the region.

The tournament field includes three other Mid-American Conference teams (Miami, Northern Illinois, Ball State, as well as Big East (host Louisville, Cincinnati) and Big Ten (Wisconsin) schools.

One look at the tournament leaderboard will tell you why the Falcons have real hope to improve their team and individual standing.

For the team, the Falcons enter the final round only ten shots behind current tournament leader Marshall. Bowling Green's score of 576 (285-291), which is even par for the first 36 holes, is part of a very competitive group from third to eighth place.

After second place Miami's score of 568, six teams have scores between 570 and 577. Tournament host Louisville (570) leads that group, while Illinois State and Kennesaw State (571) are tied for fourth. BGSU trails MAC foe Ball State by two for sixth place, while they lead eighth-place Marquette by one.

The MAC's other school in the tournament, Northern Illinois, is in ninth place (581).

The individual leaderboard is packed even more closely.

Fifty-one players are within ten shots of the current tournament leader, Matt Stasiak of Miami.

Stasiak's 138 puts him one shot ahead of a pair tied for second place and two ahead of Northern Illinois' Andrew Frame in fourth.

After that, there is a four-way tie for fifth (141), an 11-way tie for ninth (142), followed by ties of four (143), eight (144), six (145), four (146), six (147), five (148), and seven (149). In all, only the last two of the field of 84 are not within 20 shots of the leader.

Falcon junior Parker Hewit is part of the 11-way logjam for ninth place. He carded Bowling Green's low round of the day with a 69 in the first round. Hewit followed that with a 73 over the final 18 for a total of 142.

Using a strong showing of three under par over the course's ten par-fours, Drew Preston put himself in strong position with a day's total of 144 (71-73). Preston's showing on the par fours was the second best of the day, and his 144 puts him in a tie for 24th place, two shots behind Hewit and six behind the leader.

Sophomore Wes Gates is only one shot behind Preston, and he dazzled on the course's par five holes. The Cardinal Club features four such holes, and Gates played those to a tune of six under par, helping him secure a 145 (71-74) for the day. Gates even notched one of the tourney's 11 eagles.

Newcomer Charlie Olson trails Gates by only one stroke, and he achieved his total of 146 by posting an even-par 72 during the second round.

Meanwhile, freshman Chris Melvin improved by three strokes over the final 18 holes to finish with a score of 149 (76-73) for the day. That total includes a three under par score on the course's par fours, tying Preston in that regard.

As a team, the Falcons led the field on those par-four holes to the tune of five under par. They also tied for second as a team with 38 birdies on the day, trailing only Marshall's 45.

The final round will begin tomorrow morning; a complete recap and final statistics will be posted right here at BGSUFalcons.com shortly after the conclusion of the tournament.