April 21, 2024
Cobras Tied for 1st in SAC Championships
ORANGEBURG, SC -- Seniors Caleb Tidd and Jonathan Hallinger accounted for nine of a tournament-high 17 birdies on a dreary Sunday afternoon as the Coker men claimed a share of the lead after the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Championships. Tidd has the individual lead at 2-under par.
Playing the par-70, 7,032-yard Orangeburg Country Club layout, the second-seeded and nationally 21st-ranked Cobras got off to a hot start, struggled a bit in the middle of the round and had a steady finish to end up deadlocked with Lenoir-Rhyne at 8-over-par 288. Wingate is close behind at +9, followed by Anderson and Carson-Newman at +10 and nationally 2nd-ranked Lincoln Memorial (the top seed) at +15.
"It was a solid performance today in some challenging conditions," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "The guys came out ready and we were atop the leaderboard until the middle of the round, when we logged a couple of bad holes and had a couple of guys go on a bogey train. But, we refocused down the stretch and played the last four holes at even par to get back to the top."
Tidd continued his outstanding play this spring with four birdies and two bogeys, giving him a one-shot lead over Anderson's Simon Wright. They were the only two players to break par on a day that saw temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s with intermittent rain and gusty winds. Hallinger is tied for fifth after a crazy round. He was 2-under through five holes but made a triple and double on holes 8 and 9. He birdied holes 10, 13, and 18 on the back nine.
Coker senior Aaron Teece only hit two greens on his front nine, but his scrambling was excellent as he made the turn at just 2-over par. He spaced three birdies and four bogeys on the back nine to fire a 3-over 73, tying him for 14th place. Teece was on point with his long flat stick, needing just 26 putts.
Senior Killian Ryan started 2-under through five holes with three birdies, but bogeyed eight of his next 10 holes. He then birdied the short par-4 16th, bogeyed the par-3 17th and made a par on 18 to shoot 76. Junior Derek McGlaughlin shot the same number but rallied from a front=9 40 (6-over) to card an even-par 36 on the back nine.
The Cobras rated third of 13 schools in par-3 scoring at 8-over, second in par-4 scoring at 7-over and third in par-5 scoring at 1-under.
"Our guys have played well all year," Hackney said, "and we have been gearing up for the postseason. They didn't panic when a few things went awry and played some really solid golf over the last four holes. We rolled in five birdies on the last three holes and that made a big difference. We came here to win a championship, and we are in a good position with two more rounds to play."
The Cobras tee off at 11:50 Monday morning. The tournament can be followed live at www.birdiefire.com.