April 11, 2009
Columbus, Ohio - The Penn State men's golf team completed round one and two of the 40th annual Robert Kepler Intercollegiate today. The Nittany Lions wrapped up the first round in 13th place and improved by 16 strokes to finish the day in 12th place. The Nittany Lions carded rounds of 316 and 310, 58-over par (626).
13 teams teed off this morning at Ohio State's Scarlet Course beneath sunny and clear conditions with occasional gusts of wind. All teams faced challenging holes in Columbus, Ohio on the 7,455-yeard, par-71 course.
Junior T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) led the Nittany Lions after the second round moving from 50th to 28th place from the first to the second round. Howe shot rounds of 79-75 to record a twelve-over par (154) one-day total.
Juniors Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa.) and Kevin Foley (Sommerville, N.J.) and senior Chad Bricker (Waynesboro, Pa.), finished tied for 43rd after the first two rounds of play. Markovitz shot both rounds at 79 to finish 16-over par (158). Foley jumped 15 spots between the first and second rounds with a two-stroke improvement from 80 to 78 to finish at 16-over par (158). Freshmen Nick Archambault (Q.C., Canada) finished tied for 51st with rounds of 81 and 78. Archambault concluded the day at 17-over par (159).
" We came out flat, and the golf course just tore us apart," said head coach Greg Nye. "Clearly a low point in our year, after the high at Pinehurst."
Northwestern currently sits atop the leaderboard at 29-over par beating out Eastern Tennessee State who claimed first place after round one. Tennessee sits at 30-over par and Kent State sits at 31-over par. Brad Wright of Ohio State has comfortably stayed in first place after both rounds recording 71's in both rounds, even par (142).
The final round will be played tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with a shotgun start.