GLEN ROSE, TEXAS – A school-record round of 276 in the afternoon second round put UT Tyler in prime position after 36 holes of stroke play competition at the 2022 Lone Star Conference Men's Golf Championships on Monday.
The Patriots finished the day 18-under par as a team at Squaw Valley Golf Club's Apache Course and in fourth place on the stroke play leaderboard after rounds of 282-276 for a 558 total. The top four teams following tomorrow morning's third and final round will advance to a medal match play bracket to determine the team champion set to begin tomorrow afternoon with the semifinals.
UT Tyler enters that final round tomorrow morning just six strokes back of Midwestern State, who fired rounds of 272-280 for a 24-under par total to hold the overnight lead. Midwestern State and Cameron both sit within four strokes of the Patriots in second and third place with 554 and 557 totals, while St. Mary's sits three strokes back of UT Tyler for what will be the crucial top four positions following the stroke play portion of the event.
The second-round 276 on Monday for UT Tyler bettered the previous team low round of 278 set back in round two of the Golfweek Fall Invitational in the 2016-17 season. All four Patriots recorded under-par totals as part of that historic round, including a 67 from sophomore
Carter Lewis and a 68 from freshman
Jackson Naeger.
Sophomore
Jackson Powers kept pace with what is a crowded individual leaderboard at the conference championships with a one-under par 71 in the afternoon round after a 66 in the morning round to finish the day seven-under through 36 holes. Powers will enter tomorrow in a tie for eighth place and just five strokes back of Texas A&M International's Mauricio Figueroa, who tops the individual leaderboard at 12-under par after rounds of 65-67 on Monday.
Powers effectively kept UT Tyler in the mix at the top of the leaderboard with the first-round 66, and found support thanks to classmate
Alex Kopenhaver, who joined Powers with an under-par opening round with a 68. Naeger (73) and Lewis (75) rounded out the four counting scores in the morning round for the team total of 282.
Naeger, Lewis and freshman
Ryan Willis all made a turnaround in the afternoon round to help the Patriots post the historic effort in round two, as Willis made a 10-shot turnaround between rounds one and two after a second-round 70.
Naeger (73-68) and Lewis (75-67) both sit within the top 25 of the individual leaderboard with Naeger in a tie for 18
th place at three-under par and Lewis in a tie for 23
rd place at two-under par. Kopenhaver shot 76 in the afternoon round to sit in a tie for 34
th place at 144 (68-76), and Willis sits in a tie for 51
st place with a 150 (80-70) total.
Individual results will be finalized after the conclusion of the stroke play portion of the event tomorrow morning, with the individual champion as well as all-tournament team solidified after 54 hole of stroke play competition. The low four teams after tomorrow morning rounds, will meet in the semifinals of the medal match play bracket slated for tomorrow afternoon.
The winners of those two matches will then meet on Wednesday morning for the championship match to determine the 2022 Lone Star Conference Men's Golf Champions.
Tomorrow morning's third and final round is slated for an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start and the semifinals of the medal match play a 2 p.m. start.
