April 19, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's golf team finished two rounds at the 28th annual Rutherford Intercollegiate Saturday in ninth place, scoring a 587 (299-288) at the Blue Course.
Sophomores Chris Houston (Gilford, N.H.) and JD Dornes (Lancaster, Pa.) lead the Nittany Lions with marks of 146 going into the final 18 holes. Houston tallied a 76 and 70 in rounds one and two, respectively, while Dornes put up a pair of 73's to place the duo tied-for-19th.
The third of the sophomore trio, Geoff Vartelas (Cromwell, Conn.), posted a 147 (74-73) and is tied-for-26th on the leaderboard. Junior Jens Talbert (Little Rock, Ark.) will go into the final round of play with a 149 and junior Xander McDonald-Smith (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) rounded out team play for Penn State with a 154 two-round total.
Freshman Cody Cox (MIlford, Pa.) leads those competing as individuals for the Blue and White with a tied-for-26th ranking (147) alongside Vartelas. One stroke behind is freshman counterpart Christian Elliott (Port Perry, Ontario), who completed day one with a 148 on the Blue Course.
Junior Ryan Worthy (Chester Springs, Pa.) will go into round three with a 155 score and senior Shane Stewart (Dublin, Ohio) marked a 157 on the day.
Minnesota holds the first place team position through 36 holes with a strong 9-stroke lead over second place Rutgers. The Golden Gophers posted a 4-under 564 with Jose Mendez leading the way with a 9-under 133 individual score. Jonathan Renza of the Scarlet Knights will enter the final round Sunday morning looking to overcome a 2-stroke deficit.
Round three is set to begin Sunday morning with tee times beginning at 8:00 a.m., pending frost conditions.
Live scoring the rest of the way can be found at www.golfstatresults.com. Follow @PennStateMGolf on Twitter or "like" the team's page on Facebook for up-to-date pictures and information regarding the final day of the 2014 Rutherford Intercollegiate and the remainder of the spring season.