Coker men 4th after first round of SAC Championship

HICKORY, N.C. -- Junior Jonathan Hallinger and senior Fred Tindale each shot even-par 72 Sunday to pace Coker in the opening round of the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championships. 

The Cobras, ranked No. 30, shot 5-over par 293 and stand fourth out of 12 schools. Nationally top-ranked Anderson leads at 8-under 280. Host Lenoir-Rhyne is second at 2-under 286 and Tusculum sits third at 288. Anderson's Alejandro DeCastro has the individual lead by two shots after a 5-under 67.

Hallinger rolled in six birdies, needed just 28 putts and hit 13-of-18 greens. He came out smoking, birdieing three of his first three holes. If not for two double bogeys, he would have had a sensational day.

"Johnny struck the ball great today," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "He really had it going early and played with a lot of confidence. His game has really been sharp the last two weeks, so I expected him to light it up."

Hallinger and Tindale are tied for 11th out of 60 participants. Tindale notched four birdies behind 27 putts, eight hit fairways and 10 greens.

"Fred was a scrambling machine today," Hackney said, "evidenced by seven 1-putts and a successful birdie putt from off the green on No. 5. We just had a good game plan today and our guys executed it well. We didn't try to overpower the golf course. We just hit irons and hybrids to the end of doglegs, leaving ourselves clear shots into greens. We just had a few mishits that cost us, but overall, to have all five guys shoot between 72 and 75 on this challenging course bodes well for the next two rounds."

Senior Killian Ryan birdied the 18th hole to shoot 74. Junior Caleb Tidd and sophomore Derek McGlaughlin each posted 75.

"As usual, Killian was nearly automatic off the tee, hitting 11-of-14 fairways," Hackney said. "His iron play was just a little off. He hit 10 greens, but had a lot of long birdie looks that he was unable to convert. Derek got off to a great start, parring every hole on the front nine, and was still even-par through 12. He then bogeyed three straight before finishing with three straight pars, including a great save on 18 after missing the fairway way left. Tidd hit 11 fairways and 11 greens, but was only able to sink 1-of-6 birdie attempts inside 15 feet.

As a team, the Cobras led the field in par 3 scoring at 2-under. Coker played the par 5s at 4-under and the par 4s at 14-over.

"You can't win it on the first day, but you can lose it," Hackney said. "We are ahead of three top 25 teams, which is nice. Our guys looked good out there today. If we had just made a few more of those birdie putts, we would be closer to the lead, but we are playing really well right now, so I expect us to make a run at the title."