February 12, 2024
Coker Men stand sixth, 10 back of lead
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Junior Derek McGlaughlin fired a career-best 68 in windy conditions Monday afternoon to lead the Coker men's golf team to a 6th-place position following the first 36 holes of the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate.
Playing at the par-72, 7,106-yard St. John's Golf & Country Club layout, McGlaughlin followed up a morning 76 with his 68. He had four birdies and an eagle in the afternoon, when he got as low as 6-under. He is tied for 14th out of 104 players in the mostly regional field of 20 squads that includes a number of ranked teams.
Coker, ranked 22nd nationally in NCAA DII, fired rounds of 294 (6-over par) and 288 (even). Eighth-ranked Georgia SouthWestern has the lead at 4-under, followed by No. 1 North Georgia (-2), No. 18 Lander (+4), No. 2 Lincoln Memorial and No. 20 Columbus State (+5) and Coker at +6.
"For the most part, we handled the blustery conditions pretty well," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "We only had one double and one triple in our counting scores in the morning, when we made 16 birdies. In the afternoon, we made 19 birdies and two eagles but had one triple and one quad. The greens are pretty slick, so you have to be careful when putting, but we did sink a lot of clutch putts."
Coker super senior Killian Ryan rolled in four birdies in a morning 69 and tallied a 76 in the afternoon for a plus-1 total, which is tied for 17th with junior teammate Caleb Tidd, who fired rounds of 74 and 71. Tidd had four birdies for his second 18 holes.
Senior Jonathan Hallinger shot 75-73 for a 148 (+4) and is tied for 37th. He had an eagle and two birdies in the afternoon. Senior Aaron Teece struggled to a +9 front 9 to start the day, but fired 1-under on his second nine for an 80 and came in with a 76 in the afternoon.
"We are once again hanging with the best teams in the country, but we know we can play much better," Hackney said. "We are just eight shots back of the No. 1 team in the country and one back of the No. 2 team, so we have a chance to finish very high or even win if we go low on the final 18 Tuesday. We need more rounds like what Killian and Derek had and we'll be in business!"
Play begins Tuesday with an 8:30 shotgun and the tournament can be followed on BirdieFire.