April 10, 2017
GASTONIA, N.C. - No. 20 Auburn Men's Golf holds a five-stroke lead after two rounds of play at the Gary Koch Invitational, carding a 17-under 282-277-859 Monday at the par-72, 7,042-yard Gaston Country Club. Five Tigers currently sit in the top-10 standings led by Jacob Solomon, who is fourth at 5-under 70-69-139.
Auburn leads North Carolina State (276-288-564) by five strokes while Georgia Southern (290-291-581) and Coastal Carolina (295-286-581) are tied for third at 5-over.
Solomon, a sophomore from Dublin, Calif., carded his ninth and 10th rounds under par for the season while tallying five birdies in each round. His second round 69 is his fourth round in the 60s this year.
All-America junior Ben Schlottman is a shot back and tied for fifth at 4-under 71-69-140. The Advance, N.C., native, playing as an individual, started his day with six birdies on Nos. 4, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 16 in the first round and followed with five more in the second.
A trio of Tigers in senior Matt Gilchrest, sophomore Trace Crowe and freshman Jovan Rebula are tied for seventh at 3-under 141. Gilchrest, a finalist for the Byron Nelson Award, began his day with a five-birdie performance as part of his opening round 71 and tallied four more birdies in his second round 70.
Crowe, a native of Bluffton, S.C., bounced back from an opening round 75 with a bogey-free and career-low 6-under 66 second round to climb 33 spots. He tallied six birdies in the round on Nos. 1, 2 and 6 on the front nine and 12, 17 and 18 on the back. The 66 is his seventh round in the 60s this year, tied for the team lead.
Rebula, a product of George, South Africa, also carded his seventh round in the 60s of the season with an opening round 69 that included seven birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 6 and 7 on the front and 13, 17 and 18 on the back. He added a trio more in his even-par 72 second round.
Senior Ryan Benton (72-73-145) and freshman Reagan Harrell (76-69-145) are tied for 22nd at 1-over. Benton, a native of Dothan, Ala., tallied three birdies in each round.
Harrell, playing as an individual, climbed 27 spots following a 3-under 69 second round that included six birdies and an eagle on the par-4 16th. The Guntersville, Ala., product, is playing in just the second tournament of his career.
Senior Will Long is t-37th at 4-over 72-76-148. The Gastonia native has totaled six birdies through two rounds.
No. 13 Virginia and ULM are tied for fifth at 8-over 584 followed by Richmond (298-288-586), Charleston Southern (294-293-587), Kentucky (295-295-590), Southern Illinois (296-295-591) and Gardner-Webb (293-298-591).
Lamar is 12th at 299-294-593 followed by Jacksonville State (310-285-595) and Wofford College (307-300-607) to close out the field.
Jacksonville State's Jamie Mist is the individual leader at 8-under 71-65-136.
The Tigers tee off the final round on No. 1 at 8:20 am CT with North Carolina State and Georgia Southern. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.