Stamey one shot back, UNCG fifth after two rounds at SoCon Championship

COLUMBIA, S.C. – On the strength of Drew Younts’ round of 69 and strong play by Will Bowman and Nathan Stamey, UNCG sits in a tie for fifth after two rounds at 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship at the Country Club of South Carolina.

Stamey, who was the leader after an opening round 69, shot a 73 on Monday to sit at two-under for the tournament. The senior from Canton, NC is tied for second place with two other golfers, just one shot back of Chattanooga’s Ben Rickett.

Stamey played the front side one-over and then birdied No. 11 to get back to even par. But a double-bogey on No. 12 erased that and he settled for one-over after a birdie on the Par-5 17th. Stamey is tied with College of Charleston’s Kim Soonam, who will play with Rickett in Tuesday’s final pairing, and Western Carolina’s Matt Cook. Stamey and Cook will play together in a pairing on Tuesday, as well.

Younts bounced back from his opening round 77 to card a three-under par round. The sophomore from Stokesdale, NC had five birdies and two bogeys in his round on Monday to get his round of 69. After bogeys on two of his last three holes on Sunday, Younts closed Monday’s round with birdies on two of the last three. He is now tied for 14th place, five shots off the lead.

Bowman also bounced back nicely from an opening round 77. The sophomore from Greensboro, NC opened Sunday’s round strong, going out in 34, only to see it disappear in a 43 on the back side. Monday was a different story, however, for Bowman. He played the front side in 35 and then came in with a 37 to finish even par for the day. He is tied for 22nd place.

UNCG’s team score of 293 on Monday put it in a tie for fifth at 589, right alongside Elon. Western Carolina is fourth at 588. Chattanooga pulled away from the field on Monday to open up a lead. With four of their five golfers shooting under par, the Mocs carded a team total of 281 on the day and 571 for the tournament thus far, holding an eight-shot lead over second place College of Charleston.

Tuesday’s final round will get underway at 8 am with tee times off of Nos. 1 and 10. UNCG will begin with the 8 am group off of No. 1 tee with Stamey playing in the 8:32 am group.

AGATE

TEAM SCORING: Chattanooga 571, College of Charleston 579, Furman 586, Western Carolina 588, UNCG 589, Elon 589, Wofford 595, Georgia Southern 599, Davidson 617, Appalachian State 638.

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:

Top 10: 1. Ben Rickett (Chattanooga) 72-69=141; T-2. Matt Cook (Western Carolina) 75-67=142; T-2. Soonam Kim (College of Charleston) 71-71=142; T-2. Nathan Stamey (UNCG) 69-73=142; T-5. Ben Goforth (Furman) 70-73=143; T-5. Jimmy Lytle (Elon) 75-68=143; T-5. Drew Perry (Wofford) 73-70-143; T-5. Fredrick Qvicker (Chattanooga) 70-73=143; T-9. J.T. Clendenin (Chattanooga) 73-71=144; T-9. Austin Reeves (Furman) 73-71=144.

Other UNCG Golfers: T-14. Drew Younts 77-69=146; T-22. Will Bowman 77-72=149; T-31. Darragh Coghlan 74-79=153; T-41. Brad Cline 76-81=157.

- UNCG -