University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Badger Invitational
White Continues to Lead Spartans, Hassell Solid on Second Day of Badger Invitational
9/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Madison, Wisc. – Taylor White turned in his second consecutive round under par at the Badger Invitational and continued to lead the USC Upstate men's golf team as the Spartans shot a 293 in the second round of the tournament Monday to remain in a battle at the top of the leaderboard.
White shot a 1-under-par 71 Monday after shooting a 70 Sunday to open the tournament and will begin Tuesday's final round in second place at 3-under, just two strokes off the lead held by Sam Houston State's Zach Cabra. White eagled the par-5 second hole early in his round and went out at 2-under. He made one bogey with eight pars on the back nine to finish at 71 for the day. His eagle on the second hole was his second eagle of the tournament after making an eagle-2 on a par-4 in his first round.
"Taylor continues to have a great tournament and has used his imagination and talent around this course," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "He is enjoying himself and being happy is important for good play."
The players began the round in very good conditions, but weather became a factor as the day went on. Sunny skies gave way to partly cloudy conditions with a steady wind at 16 mph and gusting to 21 mph late in the day.
Despite the windy conditions, Upstate managed several solid rounds en route to shooting 293, which was tied for the best round of the day. Behind the play of White and solid play from the rest of the team, the Spartans remained at the top of the leaderboard in third place at 11-over-par 587 heading into the final round. They are just one shot behind Marquette (586) in second place and 11 strokes shy of tournament leader Sam Houston State (576).
Kansas and Toledo are tied for fourth at 588, just one stroke back of Upstate. Iowa State is sixth at 590 and is followed on the leaderboard by Wisconsin (601), Charleston Southern (604), Rutgers (609), Illinois State (612), Bowling Green State (614), Drake (617) and Bradley (619).
While White continued to lead the Spartans, Ryan Cornfield was solid throughout the day and Sean Hassell turned in his best round of the season. Cornfield began the day relatively steady, collecting eight pars with one bogey on the front nine. His back nine was a bit more adventurous, finishing with three birdies, four pars and two bogeys to shoot even-par for the day. He is in a four-way tie for 10th at 146.
Hassell, who steadied the ship during his final nine on Sunday, carried that confidence onto the course Monday. A birdie on the par-5 6th hole helped him go out in 38 and he played the back nine at even-par to shoot 74 on the day and help keep the Spartans in the top grouping on the leaderboard.
Trey Taylor was solid in his round as well. Although he made two bogeys on each nine, he finished the day with 14 pars to shoot 76 for the fourth countable score for Upstate. He is tied for 19th with a 148 total to give the Spartans three players in the Top 20. Sebastian Lopez Bulla finished with an 81.
"Ryan was his usual composed self and that is good for us," said Lawton. "He is someone we count on and is a good leader. I am excited about Trey's continued good play and am very proud of Sean for posting a good score and boosting his confidence. We are able to use all five of our guys now and we need that each day."
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