UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's golf team battled with three ranked teams in the first day of action on Saturday at the Rod Myers Invitational, taking the lead after 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament. An 11-under 565 put Penn State in the top position despite being challenged by No. 22 North Carolina during the second round (566).
Host institution Duke (574), ranked 18th, and Florida State (575), ranked 25th, finished third and fourth, respectively, after two rounds of play.
"We showed some patience and fight back in each round today," said Penn State men's golf coach Greg Nye. "I give the guys a lot of credit for staying focused for 10 hours in temperatures that felt like they were over 100 degrees. We got contributions from everyone today."
Penn State grabbed the top spot following round one with a 10-under 278, sparked in part by a career-low 66 by senior JD Hughes. Hughes had plenty of red numbers Saturday with seven birdies on his first 18 holes and added four more in the second round. Hughes tied his career-low round with a 66 in the morning and was even par in the afternoon at 138 (66-72) for third overall.
Duluth, Ga., native and Nittany Lion Charles Huntzinger posted duplicate rounds of 70 for a 4-under 140 on the day, moving him up into a tie for fourth. Classmate Ryan Dornes made three birdies and an eagle in the morning round, then had three more birdies in the afternoon session. He finished even at 144 after two rounds in a tie for 19th.
Saturday's individual leader, John Pak of Florida State, shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 in the first round of play Saturday and ended his day at 131 (62-69). Harrison Taee of Duke, playing as an individual, is in second place at 137 (70-67).
Live scoring for Sunday's final round of the Rod Myers Invitational is available here.
Keep up to date with the latest information about the Nittany Lion Men's Golf team on Twitter at @PennStateMGolf and Facebook. Follow Coach Greg Nye on Instagram at @CoachNyePSU.
| Sunday Sept. 9 Round Three (Final) -- Tee Times | ||
| JD Hughes | 10:00 a.m. ET | Hole 1 |
| Charles Huntzinger | 9:50 a.m. ET | Hole 1 |
| Ryan Dornes | 9:40 a.m. ET | Hole 1 |
| Ryan Davis | 9:30 a.m. ET | Hole 1 |
| Alec Bard | 9:20 a.m. ET | Hole 1 |
| Live Scoring | ||