NEED TO KNOW:
Piedmont Leader: T-5 -
Adam Rogers 70, -- (-5)
As a Team: 9th of 19
Event Information: 19 teams; 95 golfers
The Course: The Club at Savannah Harbor (Savannah, Ga.); Par 72; 6,851 yards
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Piedmont men's golf delivered a solid start to the 2024 spring season on Monday, as
Adam Rogers led the team by going low over the first round and a half of play at the Savannah Invitational.
As a team, the Lions find themselves at even par after firing a 291 in the opening round before jumping out to a strong start to Round Two before play was suspended due to darkness with six holes to play for Piedmont.
Rogers tied his Piedmont career low round with an opening 2-under 70, at one point making three consecutive birdies on holes 10-12. He then kept the momentum up, sitting at -3 for the second round with four birdies so far in that round.
Piedmont is in a tie for ninth with a little under a round and a half to go, but are just five strokes behind Huntingdon and Lynchburg at -5.
In addition to Rogers, the Lions received solid rounds of 1-over 73 from
Josh Hebrink and
Connor Lane, who made the team's lone eagle in the first round, making a 3 on the par-5 4th.
Senior
Eric Penland delivered a rock solid round of 75 for Piedmont's final counting score while freshman
Doug Gugel, who carded a 5-over 77.
Round Two was off to a blistering start before play was suspended, with three Lions at even par or better and one more (Hebrink) at just one over par. Gugel is in the midst of a nice bounce back round, sitting at even par while Penland has made three birdies so far on his round as well.
Emory holds the team lead at -15 while Huntingdon's Zachary Coker leads on the individual side at -7, with Rogers and a host of others at -5.
Up next, the tournament will conclude Tuesday with the resumption of the second round beginning at 8:10 a.m. (ET) and the final round to follow.
LIONS ON THE LEADERBOARD:
COACH'S CORNER (Hear from Head Coach Dustin Meadows on today's play)
"I think we showed what Piedmonts pedigree is…just grit. There was a point in the middle of the first round where we could have bagged in but we didn't. That's what I'm most proud of. Adam got it going, from tee to green it was one of the best displays I've seen in a long time. Josh hit it just as well, but just had a day on the greens where nothing would fall. I'd sum that up for all of us. We counted it up from 7-18 feet we left collectively about 12 shots out there. Which is good and bad. Good because we gave ourselves chances, but to get to where we want to go we need to see just a few of those fall and we are off to the races.
"It will come, I see it, we believe it. these guys are playing well. The maturity of Doug and Connor so far is awesome. We will see what tomorrow brings. Clear heads, full hearts, we can't lose."
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Rogers made seven birdies on Monday and is just two shots off the individual lead with 24 holes to play in the tournament.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
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