Greensboro, Ga. – After shaking off some early jitters in the opening round of The National Intercollegiate on Monday morning at the Reynolds Lake Oconee National Course, the Hatters bounced back with a strong second round to move four spots up the leader board.
 
The Hatters, who started play at the shotgun start on holes two through five on the Bluff course, struggled to get their putters going during the morning round. The five players combined for just 12 birdies in the opening round while also posting 29 bogeys and two double-bogeys.
 
Stetson's opening round team score of 302 had the Hatters near the back end of the 13-team field.
 
That started to change in the second round as the Hatters found their stride, posting a 289 to finish the day in ninth place, just four shots behind Jacksonville State and Morehead State.
 
UT-Martin and Belmont shared the tournament lead after the opening round of play, with both posting opening round scored of 283. The Skyhawks pulled away from the field with a second round 278 and finished the day with a 15-under par score of 561, 12 shots in front of Mercer and North Alabama, who are tied for second.
 
After struggling to a score of 77 in the opening round, Stetson's Nick Montes followed up with a four-under par round of 68 in the afternoon, moving up 41 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 16^th place.
 
UT Martin's Nick Wolf followed his opening round 70 with a nine-under par 63 in the afternoon to take a five-shot lead on the field. North Alabama's Tom Roed Karlsen and Belmont's Evan Davis are tied for second with six-under par scores of 138.
 
Hatters' freshman Truman Keppy matched birdies and bogeys for most of the day, posting consecutive rounds of 73. His two-over par score of 146 has him tied for 21^st entering Tuesday's final round of play.
 
Graduate Chris Williard never got into a scoring groove, posting matching rounds of 74. He is tied for 31^st going into the final round.
 
Junior Benjamin Resnick followed an open round 78 with a 74 in the afternoon and is tied for 54^th while sophomore Mason Quagliata posted rounds of 79 and 78 and is tied for 66^th.
 
The Hatters will be first off the tee on the Ridge Course to start the final round on Tuesday. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. The Hatters will play the final round with the players from MSU and JSU, the teams just in front of them in the standings.
 
Live scoring will be available through Tuesday's final round via Golfstat.com.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.