MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Furman sophomore Clark Akers (-7) shot a 68 to surge into the lead Tuesday after the second round of the General Hackler Championship, which is being hosted by Coastal Carolina at the par 72, 7, 233 yard The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Akers, a native of Nashville, Tenn., is playing as an individual and teed off on No. 10. He posted consecutive birdies on No. 12 and No. 13 then added two more birdies on the back to turn at 4-under. Akers birdied No. 4 and No. 8 on the front for six birdies on the day. He leads the tournament by two strokes over Max Kennedy (-5) of Louisville.
Senior Walker Crosby (+2) carded an even 72 with three birdies on Tuesday to move up into a tie for 20th, while senior Ross Funderburke (+3) and sophomore Harris Barth (+3) are tied for 26th with one round to play. Funderburke tallied a 73 with birdies on No. 8 and No. 10 in round two, while Barth eagled the par-5 No. 4 and birdied No. 13 to finish with a 76 on Tuesday.
Junior Will Morlan (+7) birdied No. 4 and No. 16 and finished the round with a 78 to move into a tie for 50th, and junior Trey Diehl (+8) fired a 67 to lead the Paladins on Tuesday. He tied Akers with a team-high six birdies, including four birdies in six holes before the turn, and sits in a tie for 54th with 18 holes to play.
Host Coastal Carolina (-2) led the field with a 280 on Tuesday to surge to the top of the leaderboard. No. 48 Louisville (E) sits in second place, one stroke ahead of 15th-ranked East Tennessee State (+1). The Paladins (+4) are in fourth place, followed by College of Charleston (+5) and No. 33 Chattanooga (+7).
Furman is tied for second with a 4.16 scoring average on the par 4s and is second with 110 pars.
The 54-hole tournament concludes Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m. with teams teeing off on No. 1 and No. 10. Furman will tee off of No. 1 starting at 8:45 a.m. in the final round and will play in a group with Chattanooga and College of Charleston.
Admission to the tournament is free and fans are welcome. Results and live tournament scoring are available via http://www.FurmanPaladins.com and http://www.golfstat.com.
4 Furman 292 288 580 +4
1 Clark Akers (I) 69 68 137 -7
T20 Walker Crosby (5) 74 72 146 +2
T26 Ross Funderburke (2) 74 73 147 +3
T26 Harris Barth (3) 71 76 147 +3
T50 Will Morlan (1) 73 78 151 +7
T54 Trey Diehl (4) 85 67 152 +8
