Lynn and Barry Leading the Way After Day One of Matlock Collegiate Classic; Moccasins Stand Eighth

LAKELAND â€" One year after the tournament scoring records were set by Florida Southern’s Tim Crouch, one of those records has already been matched and another one is in jeopardy. Barry’s Adam Svensson equaled the single-round mark with an eight-under par 64 in round two Monday, while two sub-70 rounds by Ernesto Vitienes propelled Lynn into first place in the team standings. Host Florida Southern is in eighth place with one round to play in the Matlock Collegiate Classic.

Svensson had a strong first round on Monday with a 71, but in round two he was even better. The sophomore from Surrey, British Columbia, who was the national freshman-of-the-year in 2013, birdied six holes on the front nine to make the turn with a 30 (tying another tournament record), and added four more on the back for a 64. He had a chance to set the record by himself but bogeyed the 460-yard, par-four 18th hole. Svensson is the fifth golfer in the 33-year history of the tournament to have a 135 (-9) or better after two rounds, and three of the previous four have gone on to claim medalist honors, including Crouch for Florida Southern last year.

The lead for Svensson was tenuous though. His 135 was only two strokes better than Vitienes, who had scores of 68 and 69 to lead the 10th-ranked Knights to first place in the team standings. The senior from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was one of five golfers to shoot in the 60’s in the morning, but the only one of them to do so in the afternoon. Of those five, Vitienes and Armstrong’s Cory Griffin were the only ones to even shoot par or better in the second round, and they were Svensson’s closest competitors. Griffin was four back of the leader with a 139 (-3).

Overall, Lynn had two golfers (Vitienes at -9, and Jose Andres Miranda at -3) under par after two rounds, and a third (Keith Greene) sitting at even par. Each of them was a counter in both rounds, as was Elliott Whitley, who had a 145 (+1). That gave the Knights a 2-stroke advantage over top-ranked Barry (567-569), the defending Matlock champions.

The Buccaneers had Svensson and Jared Dalga each shoot under par in both rounds, and got a 72 from Scott Smyers in the first round, but otherwise had scores of 73 and 74 in the rest of their scoring slots.

In addition to Lynn at -9, and Barry at -7, two other teams were under par at the end of the day. Twelfth-ranked Armstrong, the first-round leader with an 8-under par 280, had a 293 in round two to fall into third place at -3 overall. Nova Southeastern, which came into the tournament ranked #8, was in fourth place with a team score of -1. Florida Tech was fifth with a +2.

Florida Southern (ranked #19) was in the middle of the pack Monday with a first-round score of 299, and a second-round score of 290. Crouch was the Moccasin leader at the start with a 71 to open things up, but he slipped to a 77 in round two, and the Mocs had to count that score, as well as a 78 in the first round from freshman Jason Huntington (Lakeland, Fla.). Meanwhile, senior Shane Convery (Raymond, Ill.) had a 74 in round one, and a 71 in round two. That moved Convery into a tie for 16th place with a 145 (+1).

Crouch, slipped to 33rd place with his 148 (+4). The senior All-American is attempting to become fourth player to win the Matlock in back-to-back seasons but trails Svensson by 13 strokes. The largest second-round deficit ever overcome by an individual to win the title is four strokes.

The Moccasins’ best individual round of the day belonged to sophomore Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla.), who fired a 69 in the afternoon to equal his best round of the season. Along with redshirt sophomore Alex Carpenter (Westerville, Ohio), Schultz is tied for 37th place with a 149. Huntington is tied for 69th place with a 158.

The tournament concludes on Tuesday at Lone Palm Golf Club with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.

                         Matlock Collegiate Classic   
                         Round: 3

      Hole:  1A     Jose Andres Miranda  SO    Lynn University         
         8:00       Jared Dalga  SR    Barry University        
                    Travis Williamson  JR    Armstrong               

      Hole:  1B     Ernesto Vitienes  SR    Lynn University         
         8:00       Adam Svensson  SO    Barry University        
                    Cory Griffin  JR    Armstrong               

      Hole:  2      Keith Greene  JR    Lynn University         
         8:00       Mario Beltran  FR    Barry University        
                    Shad Tuten  SR    Armstrong               

      Hole:  3      Elliott Whitley  SO    Lynn University         
         8:00       Nico Cavero  SO    Barry University        
                    Justin Wylie  SR    Armstrong               

      Hole:  4      Paul McPhee  SR    Lynn University         
         8:00       Scott Smyers  SR    Barry University        
                    Howard Hickey  SO    Armstrong               

      Hole:  5      Ricardo Celia  SR    Nova Southeastern U.    
         8:00       Ray Badenhorst  JR    Florida Tech            
                    B. Robinson-Thompson  JR    South Carolina-Aiken    

      Hole:  6      Oscar Lengden  JR    Nova Southeastern U.    
         8:00       Ryan Carter  JR    Florida Tech            
                    Hayden Letien  SR    South Carolina-Aiken    

      Hole:  7A     Ian Facey  JR    Nova Southeastern U.    
         8:00       Brandon Lau  JR    Florida Tech            
                    Stephane Boudreau  SR    South Carolina-Aiken    

      Hole:  7B     Santiago Gomez  SO    Nova Southeastern U.    
         8:00       Justin Kalanquin  JR    Florida Tech            
                    Gaines Milliner  SR    South Carolina-Aiken    

      Hole:  8      James Swan  JR    Nova Southeastern U.    
         8:00       Andrew Wuethrich  SR    Florida Tech            
                    Kyle Godsman  SR    South Carolina-Aiken    

      Hole:  9A     Talin Rajendranath  SO    West Florida, U. of     
         8:00       Tim Crouch  SR    Florida Southern Col    
                    Brian Smith  SR    St. Edward's U.         

      Hole:  9B     Juan Miguel Heredia  JR    West Florida, U. of     
         8:00       Shane Convery  SR    Florida Southern Col    
                    Dillon Van Essen  FR    St. Edward's U.         

      Hole: 10A     Gary Buffington III  JR    West Florida, U. of     
         8:00       Alex Carpenter  JR    Florida Southern Col    
                    Enrique Livas  SR    St. Edward's U.         

      Hole: 10B     JR Schultz  FR    West Florida, U. of     
         8:00       Austin Schultz  SO    Florida Southern Col    
                    Jose A. Hernandez  JR    St. Edward's U.         

      Hole: 11A     Ryan Trocchio  JR    Georgia College         
         8:00       Emil Sorebo  SO    Rollins College         
                    Alex Jones  JR    Valdosta St. U.         

      Hole: 11B     Esteban Castro  FR    West Florida, U. of     
         8:00       Jason Huntington  FR    Florida Southern Col    
                    Andres Rodas  JR    St. Edward's U.         

      Hole: 12      Victor Monte  SR    Georgia College         
         8:00       Tyler Sluman  SR    Rollins College         
                    Austin McNeill  JR    Valdosta St. U.         

      Hole: 13A     David Sullivan  JR    Georgia College         
         8:00       Matt Chamberlain        Rollins College         
                    John Fordham  JR    Valdosta St. U.         

      Hole: 13B     Bryan Fox  SR    Georgia College         
         8:00       Tiago Rodrigues  SO    Rollins College         
                    Mitch Lomis  FR    Valdosta St. U.         

      Hole: 14      Nicolas Falkinhoff  FR    Georgia College         
         8:00       Davis Hall  JR    Rollins College         
                    Florian Schmiedel  FR    Valdosta St. U.         

      Hole: 15A     Jake Solomon  SO    Eckerd College          
         8:00       Jack Stumpfig  SO    Columbus State          
                    Oliver Van Nairn  JR    Lander University       

      Hole: 15B     Jeff Evanier  SR    Eckerd College          
         8:00       Robert Mize  SO    Columbus State          
                    Jordan Ainley  FR    Lander University       

      Hole: 16      Greg Reilly  SR    Eckerd College          
         8:00       Cates Culpepper  SR    Columbus State          
                    Carlos Solis  JR    Lander University       

      Hole: 17      Johan Nordahl  SO    Eckerd College          
         8:00       Bryan Lichimo  JR    Columbus State          
                    Neal Todd  JR    Lander University       

      Hole: 18      Bobby Taggart  SR    Eckerd College          
         8:00       Yannick Gumowski  JR    Columbus State          
                    Greg McCullough  JR    Lander University