GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman (-12) men's golf team sits in second place, just one stroke off the lead, following Saturday's two rounds of the 54th Annual Furman Intercollegiate at the par 71, 7,131-yard Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, S.C.
No. 27 Texas A&M (-13) leads the tournament after 36 holes, followed by the Paladins in second, and No. 34 Wake Forest (-9) in third. The three leaders will tee off of No. 1 beginning at 9:50 a.m. on Sunday.
Three Paladins rank among the tournament's top 14, including junior Clark Akers (-5), who is in fifth place, and senior Trey Diehl (-6), who is tied for sixth. Junior Harris Barth (E) is tied for 14th.
Akers, a native of Nashville, Tenn., fired a 66 to lead Furman in round one. He birdied his first two holes, then added birdies on No. 6 and No. 13 before eagling the par-5 No. 15. He added a 71 with birdies on No. 14 and No. 18 in the day's second round. Akers sits two strokes back of leader Phichaksn Maichon (-7) of Texas A&M, who tallied rounds of 65-70=135 on Saturday.
Diehl carded a 68 with five birdies in round one. He started the round with back to back birdies on No. 1 and No. 2 then birdied three out of four holes from No. 11 through No. 14. In round two, Diehl birdied four of his first six holes to finish with a 1-under 70.
Barth shot a 74 with a birdie on No. 17 to open the tournament then posted a team-high six birdies for a 68 in round two. He scored consecutive birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 then birdied three in a row from No. 8 through No. 10.
Freshman Ludvig Josefsson (+3) carded a 75 with birdies on No. 4 and No. 12 in round one then answered with a 1-under 70 with three birdies, including consecutive birdies on No. 12 and No. 13, in round two. He is tied for 34th entering Sunday's final round.
Senior Will Morlan (+5) birdied four of his first five holes to open the tournament. He added two additional birdies for a team-high six birdies to shoot a 69 in round one. After adding a 78 in round two, he is tied for 45th.
Other Paladins competing as individuals include senior Zach Frazer (+1), who is tied for 19th after posting a 71 with four birdies in round one and a 72 with two birdies in round two. Fifth-year student Josh Hebrink (+2) fired a 68 with five birdies, including three-straight birdies to open the tournament, then scored a 76 with a birdie on No. 7 in the afternoon round, tying for 23rd. Redshirt freshman Walter Anderson (+6) scored a 72 with three birdies in round one and a 76 with two birdies in round two to tie for 55th, and freshman Max Halflants (+12) scored a 77 in each round with a total of five birdies to tie for 82nd. Sophomore Fisher Kennedy (+15) recorded rounds of 83 and 74 two birdies to tie for 86th.
Admission is free to Sunday's final round and live scoring will be available on www.furmanpaladins.com and at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/233085/scoring/team?displayMode=stroke
2 Furman 277 279 556 -12
5 Clark Akers 66 71 137 -5
T6 Trey Diehl 68 70 138 -4
T14 Harris Barth 75 68 142 E
T19 Zach Frazer* 71 72 143 +1
T23 Josh Hebrink* 68 76 144 +2
T34 Ludvig Josefsson 75 70 145 +3
T45 Will Morlan 69 78 147 +5
T55 Walter Anderson* 72 76 148 +6
T82 Max Halflants* 77 77 154 +12
T86 Fisher Kennedy* 83 74 157 +15-
* - playing as an individual
