Charleston, S.C. ? Three Hatters landed in the individual top 10 to pace the Stetson men's golf team to a three-stroke lead after the first two rounds of the Charleston Southern Fall Invitational on Monday. Freshman Sam Ryder (Longwood, Fla.) shot 71-74=145 (+1) and is tied for third place, three shots off the lead.
Ryder was tied for the first round lead with Jacksonville's Joshua Kinsey and remains well within striking distance of 36-hole leader Ryan Bell (Gardner-Webb), who stands at two under par. Kinsey is second at -1 while Ryder is tied with Gardner-Webb's Immu Korvenmaa.
Sophomore Michael Stewart (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) carded consistent rounds of 73-75 to put himself in ninth place at +4 while junior Dave McAndrew (Barrington, R.I.) is tied for 10th at +5 after shooting 75-74. Sophomore Gabe Costa (Tequesta, Fla.) carded 76-74 on the par 72 layout at Crowfield Plantation Golf Club and is in 14th place at +6. Rounding out the Hatter contingent today was senior Tommy Parker (Palm Beach, Fla.), who shot 78-76 and is tied for 24th place at +10.
Today's solid play allowed the Hatters to maintain their three-stroke lead over Radford from the first round to the second. Gardner-Webb shot the best team score in Round 2 and is in third place at +23. Eight other squads are taking part in the tournament.
Play concludes tomorrow with a final round of 18 holes as Stetson attempts to capture its first tournament title of the season.
