LAKELAND - One year after winning its first Matlock Collegiate Classic, Georgia College is one day away from winning its second, but in order to do so, the Bobcats will first have to fend off the team that's won the tournament more times than any other. By shooting a three-under par 285 in each round on Monday, the Bobcats were able to take a 6-stroke lead over host Florida Southern going into Tuesday's final round, with West Florida and Newberry (SC) trailing by nine strokes.

Not only did Georgia College have an identical score in each round Monday, so did Florida Southern, which is seeking its sixth Matlock title. The Moccasins had a pair of 288's, and the second round included scores of 68 from Spencer Baldwin and 69 from Jude Eustaquio. Baldwin was especially impressive, with seven birdies contributing to the best score of his Moccasin career. Combined with his opening round 72, it was good enough to put the junior college transfer in a tie for fourth place individually with a four-under par 140. Eustaquio, meanwhile, was tied for second place with a five-under 139, and shot par or better on 33 of his 36 holes for the day.

As well as Baldwin and Eustaquio played, however, they were only one stroke better than Georgia College's top two golfers, Billy Shida and Joe Young, who each had a 69 in round two.

After shooting a 32 on the back nine in his opening round, Shida finished with a 67 that gave him a one-stroke lead over Max DeCraeker of Rollins at that point. While he wasn't quite as strong in the second round, Shida still shot a three-under par 69 to finish at eight-under for the day. That puts him within striking distance of the all-time tournament record held by Florida Southern's Jeff Klauk, who finished at 12-under in 2000.

While Shida held on to his first-round lead, DeCraeker fell back into a tie for 11th place, with Eustaquio and West Florida's Blake Olson moving into a tie for second, They stood three strokes behind Shida at five-under, with a group of four golfers tied for fourth place at four-under, one of them being Baldwin.

Defending individual champion Joe Young, also from Georgia College, was in a tie for ninth with a 142, trailing his teammate by six strokes. He matched Shida with a 69 in the second round, but his 73 in round one was the Bobcats' fourth counter. That was two strokes better than the Mocs' fourth counter, however, and the Bobcats picked up three more shots at the #4 counter in round two, this time with Matthew Yonz in that position.

Tim Crouch and Lee White were tied for 33rd with scores of 149, and Shelton Smith was tied for 52nd with a 153. Eustaquio, Baldwin and White all had at least one round on Monday with a score of under par.

Earlier in the day, round one ended with Newberry and Georgia College tied for first with scores of 285, and Florida Southern three strokes behind. Three shots behind the Moccasins were Barry and North Alabama, part of a log-jam involving 11 teams that were all within seven strokes of each other. That opened up a bit as play progressed throughout the afternoon.

Newberry had a share of the lead with Daniel Stanley shooting a 69, and Matthew Killen carding a 70, but Georgia College rode the play of Shida, whose 67 made him the only Bobcat to break par in the first round. That gave him the individual lead by one stroke over DeCraecker. Both players birdied seven holes in the round, but Shida handled the shorter par-3’s better, playing those four holes at two-under, while DeCraecker had a pair of bogeys. DeCraecker, meanwhile, birdied all four of the par-5‘s, but couldn't carry that momentum into the second round.

The final round at Lone Palm Golf Club is scheduled to get underway with a shotgun start Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.

                         Matlock Collegiate Classic   
                         Lone Palm G. C.          Lakeland, FL  
                         Dates: 02/14 - 02/15     (Today:02-14-2011)
                                   Par:        72               
                                   Yardage:  7065               

      Fin.   Top 20 Teams             Scores 
         1   Georgia College          285  285    570    
         2   Florida Southern Col     288  288    576    
         3   West Florida, U. of      293  286    579    
             Newberry College         285  294    579    
         5   Columbus State           294  286    580    
         6   Barry University         291  292    583    
         7   Lynn University          296  288    584    
         8   Florida Inst of Tech     296  291    587    
         9   Valdosta St. U.          297  293    590    
        10   Nova Southeastern U.     295  298    593    
        11   North Alabama, U. of     291  303    594    
             Rollins College          296  298    594    
        13   Lander University        294  306    600    
        14   Eckerd College           298  304    602    
        15   Clayton State Univ.      320  317    637    

      1   Billy Shida            GA College    67   69    136   -8
      2   Jude Eustaquio         Fl. South     70   69    139   -5
          Blake Olson            W. Florida    69   70    139   -5
      4   Daniel Stanley         Newberry      69   71    140   -4
          Zach Potter            FL Tech       73   67    140   -4
          Clarke Hendrick        ValdostaSt    71   69    140   -4
          Spencer Baldwin        Fl. South     72   68    140   -4
      8   Jose Joia              Lynn U.       70   71    141   -3
      9   Joe Young              GA College    73   69    142   -2
          Thad Wier              Lander U.     74   68    142   -2
     11   Jake Greer             N. Alabama    69   74    143   -1
          Max DeCraecker         Rollins       68   75    143   -1
          Justin Grice           CSU           74   69    143   -1
          Marcus Segerstrom      Barry U.      72   71    143   -1
     15   Ricardo Gouveia        Lynn U.       74   70    144    E
          Bobby Bode             Nova SE       72   72    144    E
          Jeremy Britt           CSU           76   68    144    E
     18   Guillermo Pumarol      Barry U.      73   72    145   +1
          Matthew Killen         Newberry      70   75    145   +1
     20   Otto Bonning           W. Florida    75   71    146   +2
          Christian Westhorpe    FL Tech       72   74    146   +2
          Callum Georgallides    Eckerd        71   75    146   +2
          Stephen Swanepoel      CSU           74   72    146   +2
          Carlos Rodriguez       W. Florida    76   70    146   +2
          Matthew Campbell       Newberry      73   73    146   +2
          Patrick Garrett        GA College    73   73    146   +2
          Matthew Yonz           GA College    72   74    146   +2
     28   Spencer Cole           Rollins       75   72    147   +3
          Daniel Stapff          Barry U.      73   74    147   +3
          Will Repko             ValdostaSt    75   72    147   +3
     31   Marcelo Huarte         Barry U.      73   75    148   +4
          Jeff Evanier           Eckerd        74   74    148   +4
     33   Max Fischer            Lander U.     70   79    149   +5
          Tim Crouch             Fl. South     75   74    149   +5
          Daniel Young           Lynn U.       76   73    149   +5
          Patrick Sheedy         FL Tech       74   75    149   +5
          Lee White              Fl. South     71   78    149   +5
     38   Chris McManus          Clayton St    77   73    150   +6
          Rourke Van der Spuy    CSU           73   77    150   +6
          Tyler Ekenberg         N. Alabama    74   76    150   +6
          Chandler Gruenmeier    Newberry      73   77    150   +6
          Jack Bartlett          Nova SE       76   74    150   +6
          Nam Padungsiriseth     Rollins       76   74    150   +6
          T. Guste-Pedersen      W. Florida    73   77    150   +6
     45   Ben Vertz              Nova SE       72   79    151   +7
          Michael Hicks          CSU           73   78    151   +7
          Robbie Van Riper       W. Florida    76   75    151   +7
          Abdul Sihag            ValdostaSt    73   78    151   +7
          Ben Lown               Newberry      76   75    151   +7
     50   Tyler Chandler         N. Alabama    74   78    152   +8
          Colin Flabbi           FL Tech       77   75    152   +8
     52   Corey Menter           FL Tech       77   76    153   +9
          Shelton Smith          Fl. South     76   77    153   +9
          Jace Windom            N. Alabama    78   75    153   +9
          Mitch Farrer           Nova SE       80   73    153   +9
          Ernesto Vitienes       Lynn U.       76   77    153   +9
     57   Paul Henderson         Eckerd        78   76    154  +10
          Hunter Stone           Rollins       77   77    154  +10
          Wes Bowman             Lander U.     76   78    154  +10
          Marcelo Rozo           Lynn U.       80   74    154  +10
          Ricardo Celia          Nova SE       75   79    154  +10
          Ricky Stimets          N. Alabama    74   80    154  +10
     63   Evan Hanna             ValdostaSt    78   77    155  +11
          Michael Rafalowicz     ValdostaSt    80   75    155  +11
          Taylor Smith           GA College    80   75    155  +11
          Jeff Cockerham         Eckerd        75   80    155  +11
          Chad Siefert           Lander U.     74   81    155  +11
     68   Chris Carlin           Barry U.      77   79    156  +12
     69   Clark Nelson           Clayton St    78   80    158  +14
          Curtis Lahey           Eckerd        79   79    158  +14
     71   Barrett McCarthy       Clayton St    79   83    162  +18
          Jordan Lewis           Rollins       78   84    162  +18
     73   Tanner Robb            Lander U.     85   85    170  +26
     74   Adam Novakowski        Clayton St    91   81    172  +28
     75   Mitchel Konkle         Clayton St    86   91    177  +33

                         Matlock Collegiate Classic   
                         Lone Palm G. C.          Lakeland, FL  
                         Dates: 02/14 - 02/15     (Today:02-14-2011)
                                   Par:        72               
                                   Yardage:  7065               

      Fin.   School                   Scores 

         1   Georgia College          285  285    570
         1    Billy Shida              67   69    136
      T  9    Joe Young                73   69    142
      T 20    Patrick Garrett          73   73    146
      T 20    Matthew Yonz             72   74    146
      T 63    Taylor Smith             80   75    155

         2   Florida Southern Col     288  288    576
      T  2    Jude Eustaquio           70   69    139
      T  4    Spencer Baldwin          72   68    140
      T 33    Tim Crouch               75   74    149
      T 33    Lee White                71   78    149
      T 52    Shelton Smith            76   77    153

      T  3   West Florida, U. of      293  286    579
      T  2    Blake Olson              69   70    139
      T 20    Otto Bonning             75   71    146
      T 20    Carlos Rodriguez         76   70    146
      T 38    T. Guste-Pedersen        73   77    150
      T 45    Robbie Van Riper         76   75    151

      T  3   Newberry College         285  294    579
      T  4    Daniel Stanley           69   71    140
      T 18    Matthew Killen           70   75    145
      T 20    Matthew Campbell         73   73    146
      T 38    Chandler Gruenmeier      73   77    150
      T 45    Ben Lown                 76   75    151

         5   Columbus State           294  286    580
      T 11    Justin Grice             74   69    143
      T 15    Jeremy Britt             76   68    144
      T 20    Stephen Swanepoel        74   72    146
      T 38    Rourke Van der Spuy      73   77    150
      T 45    Michael Hicks            73   78    151

         6   Barry University         291  292    583
      T 11    Marcus Segerstrom        72   71    143
      T 18    Guillermo Pumarol        73   72    145
      T 28    Daniel Stapff            73   74    147
      T 31    Marcelo Huarte           73   75    148
        68    Chris Carlin             77   79    156

         7   Lynn University          296  288    584
         8    Jose Joia                70   71    141
      T 15    Ricardo Gouveia          74   70    144
      T 33    Daniel Young             76   73    149
      T 52    Ernesto Vitienes         76   77    153
      T 57    Marcelo Rozo             80   74    154

         8   Florida Inst of Tech     296  291    587
      T  4    Zach Potter              73   67    140
      T 20    Christian Westhorpe      72   74    146
      T 33    Patrick Sheedy           74   75    149
      T 50    Colin Flabbi             77   75    152
      T 52    Corey Menter             77   76    153

         9   Valdosta St. U.          297  293    590
      T  4    Clarke Hendrick          71   69    140
      T 28    Will Repko               75   72    147
      T 45    Abdul Sihag              73   78    151
      T 63    Evan Hanna               78   77    155
      T 63    Michael Rafalowicz       80   75    155

        10   Nova Southeastern U.     295  298    593
      T 15    Bobby Bode               72   72    144
      T 38    Jack Bartlett            76   74    150
      T 45    Ben Vertz                72   79    151
      T 52    Mitch Farrer             80   73    153
      T 57    Ricardo Celia            75   79    154

      T 11   North Alabama, U. of     291  303    594
      T 11    Jake Greer               69   74    143
      T 38    Tyler Ekenberg           74   76    150
      T 50    Tyler Chandler           74   78    152
      T 52    Jace Windom              78   75    153
      T 57    Ricky Stimets            74   80    154

      T 11   Rollins College          296  298    594
      T 11    Max DeCraecker           68   75    143
      T 28    Spencer Cole             75   72    147
      T 38    Nam Padungsiriseth       76   74    150
      T 57    Hunter Stone             77   77    154
      T 71    Jordan Lewis             78   84    162

        13   Lander University        294  306    600
      T  9    Thad Wier                74   68    142
      T 33    Max Fischer              70   79    149
      T 57    Wes Bowman               76   78    154
      T 63    Chad Siefert             74   81    155
        73    Tanner Robb              85   85    170

        14   Eckerd College           298  304    602
      T 20    Callum Georgallides      71   75    146
      T 31    Jeff Evanier             74   74    148
      T 57    Paul Henderson           78   76    154
      T 63    Jeff Cockerham           75   80    155
      T 69    Curtis Lahey             79   79    158

        15   Clayton State Univ.      320  317    637
      T 38    Chris McManus            77   73    150
      T 69    Clark Nelson             78   80    158
      T 71    Barrett McCarthy         79   83    162
        74    Adam Novakowski          91   81    172
        75    Mitchel Konkle           86   91    177