March 19, 2011
STATESBORO, Ga. - The ninth-ranked Auburn men's golf team (275-554) closed out day two of the Chris Schenkel Invitational Saturday at 22-under par, holding the team lead at the Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
No. 5 Florida is second, six strokes behind the Tigers, followed by No. 12 LSU (-11) and No. 19 Virginia (-11).
"It was a very hot day today at Forest Heights Country Club and the guys played well," said Auburn head golf coach Nick Clinard. "We made some excellent up and downs and put ourselves in good positions to score. Tomorrow should be a fun day and we're excited about the opportunity to compete for the championship."
Freshman Niclas Carlsson fired a second round 67 to finish the day in second place at 8-under, two strokes behind leader Bank Vongvanij of Florida. Carlsson entered Saturday in a tie for third after carding an opening round 69.
The Enebyberg, Sweden native has recorded 11 birdies so far in Statesboro and currently leads the 84-player field in birdies and par-3 scoring. Carlsson recorded five birdies to zero bogeys during his Saturday round.
Sophomore Blayne Barber, ranked by Golfweek Magazine as the nation's No. 12 collegiate golfer, is in third at 6-under. The Lake City, Fla, native carded rounds of 68 and 70 for a two-day total of 138. Barber has recorded six birdies on par-5's to lead the field in par-5 scoring, averaging 4.25 strokes per attempt.
Junior Kyle Kopsick carded a second-round 69 and will head into Sunday tied for seventh at 4-under, aiming for his highest finish of the season. Junior Cory Gilmer is tied for 32nd followed by sophomore Michael Hebert in 43rd.
Competing as an individual, sophomore Dominic Bozzelli is tied for 22nd at 1-under.
NC State (-6) is in fifth followed by North Florida (-3), Notre Dame (+2), Tennessee (+2), Minnesota (+5), Georgia Southern (+6), North Carolina (+8), Vanderbilt (+13), Ole Miss (+20), Kentucky (+22) and Mississippi State (+29).
The Tigers kick off the final round of play in Stateboro at 8:30 a.m. CST Sunday morning, teeing off the front nine with Florida and LSU.
Complete results and live scoring will be made available via www.GolfStat.com