NEED TO KNOW:
Piedmont Leader: T-2nd: Braden Kiley, 70-69 = 139 (-5)
As a Team: T-6th of 20
Event Information: 20 teams; 100 golfers
The Course: The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Georrgia (Par 72; 6,958 yards)

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Piedmont men's golf enjoyed a standout opening day of its 2026 spring season, finding itself in a tie for sixth place out of 20 teams after the first two rounds of the Savannah Invitational were completed Monday.

The group was led by a breakout performance from freshman Braden Kiley, who fired a pair of under par rounds of 3-under 69 and 2-under 70 to find himself in a tie for second on the individual leaderboard through 36 holes.

Starting off hole 13 in a shotgun start, Kiley really put the pedal down on the closing stretch of his first round, playing his final five holes in 5-under par and bogey free to post his 2-under 70.

Junior Doug Gugel also closed strong to help the Lions vault up the leaderboard late in the opening round, playing his last nine holes in 3-under to post an even par 72. Freshman Bradley Knowles and junior Jacob DeJesus each delivered solid first rounds of 2-over 74 as Piedmont delivered a 2-over par team score. Adam Rogers held steady with a non-counting 3-over 75.

The second round brought more consistent play from Piedmont, with Kiley once again leading the way. The freshman played a rock solid round of 3-under 69, not making a single bogey on his way to his career-best round and his first collegiate round in the 60's.

 


Elsewhere, Rogers improved on his opening round by three to deliver an even par round of 72. Knowles remained steady and consistent, backing up his 2-over 74 with a 3-over 75 in Round Two. DeJesus produced the final counting score of 4-over 76 as the Lions were only two strokes worse in the second round, shooting 4-over as a team.

Gugel's non-counting round was still a competitive 5-over 77.

With 18 holes remaining tomorrow, Piedmont finds itself just five strokes behind third place. On the individual side, Kiley is only trailing one golfer and is eight shots behind Washington & Lee's Jonathan McEwen, who is 13-under par.

LIONS ON THE LEADERBOARD:
T-2nd: Braden Kiley, 70-69 (-5)
T-28th: Adam Rogers, 75-72 (+3)
T-40th: Bradley Knowles, 74-75 (+5)
T-40th: Doug Gugel, 72-77 (+5)
T-48th: Jacob DeJesus, 74-76 (+6)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Kiley set a new career-best round with his first round 70 before setting it again in the afternoon with a 3-under, bogey free 69.
- Through 36 holes, the Lions find themselves ahead of three top-10 teams in the Clippd National Rankings.

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